VanEck registers Avalanche ETF in US as AVAX drops 55% year-to-date

Global investment firm VanEck registered an Avalanche exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States, hinting at a forthcoming filing for a spot AVAX ETF.

VanEck, on March 10, registered a new cryptocurrency investment product called VanEck Avalanche ETF in Delaware, according to public records on the official Delaware state website.

Similar to other crypto ETF filings by VanEck, the potential new product under filing number 10125689 was registered as a trust corporate service company in Delaware.

VanEck Avalanche ETF registration in Delaware. Source: Delaware.gov

The filing comes amid a major market sell-off, with Avalanche (AVAX) dropping 55% year-to-date, while Bitcoin (BTC) is down around 17% in 2025, according to CoinGecko.

With the new filing, Avalanche became the fourth crypto asset to see a standalone ETF registration by VanEck in Delaware, following Bitcoin, Ether (ETH) and Solana (SOL).

As previously reported, VanEck filed for a spot Solana ETF with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in June 2024, becoming one of the first issuers to file for such a product.

Source: Nate Geraci

VanEck —  among the first spot Bitcoin ETF issuers in the US in 2024 — has emerged as one of the major ETF players in the crypto market, known for being the first ETF provider to file for a futures Bitcoin ETF in 2017.

An excerpt from VanEck’s journey with crypto since 2017. Source: VanEck

Launched in 2020 by Emin Gün Sirer’s Ava Labs, Avalanche is a multichain smart contract and decentralized app launch platform that was created to rival the speed and scalability of Ethereum.

Avalanche’s native utility token AVAX made it to the top 10 largest crypto assets by market capitalization in 2021. At the time of writing, the token is the 20th largest crypto asset with a market cap of $7 billion, according to CoinGecko.

Related: Bitwise files to list a spot Aptos ETF — the 36th largest cryptocurrency

Some crypto community members highlighted that VanEck was moving forward with a potential Avalanche ETF before registering an XRP (XRP) ETF.

In an X post reposted by VanEck digital asset research head Matthew Sigel, one commenter wrote:

“VanEck have filed an AVAX ETF before an XRP ETF. Come on then, Matthew Sigel, who is your handler telling you not to file an XRP ETF?”

Source: Matthew Sigel

VanEck’s Avalanche ETF registration appears to be the first registration for the product in the US.

Previously, rival crypto ETF provider Grayscale filed with the SEC to convert its multi-coin fund, including AVAX and four other crypto assets, into an ETF in October 2024.

Magazine: SEC’s U-turn on crypto leaves key questions unanswered