Canary Pepe ETF Files Pre-Effective Amendment

The Canary Pepe ETF has filed a pre-effective amendment to its prospectus, refining terms and moving the product closer to review by the SEC. The amendment, dated October 2, fleshes out how the fund would work, including the structure, pricing, and custody arrangements. The fund would hold PEPE, with 10,000-share baskets, and use a 60-minute New York benchmark rate from an index provider for pricing. The custody for PEPE would be with BitGo, while U.S. Bank would hold the cash. However, the amendment still leaves blank the ticker and seed capital details.

According to Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, the move suggests that crypto winter is over. He notes that a Pepe fund would have been unthinkable a few months ago, and that the memecoin ETF market is thinner than the optimism suggests. Canary has also filed for MOG and PENGU products, indicating a wider focus on memecoin ETFs.

The hard part for the Canary Pepe ETF, the SEC review, is still ahead. The prospectus says shares would be offered after the filing becomes effective, and the next steps include SEC comments or further amendments, a possible rule-change from Cboe BZX, and a final ticker and funded seed capital. The filing also calls PEPE a high-risk asset driven by online sentiment, with no real utility. Ownership is concentrated, as the ten largest wallets held about 41% of supply in January.