SEC Drowning in ETFtober Filings: 5+ Crypto Funds Hit Desk Amid Shutdown Gridlock – What’s the Fix?

The ￰0￱ and Exchange Commission (SEC) is facing a wave of new crypto exchange-traded fund (ETF) filings, even as a prolonged government shutdown stalls decisions and leaves dozens of products in ￰1￱ least five new crypto ETFs landed on the SEC’s desk this week alone, showing the growing rush among asset managers to secure approval before the year ￰2￱ with the agency operating under skeletal staffing due to the shutdown, now in its fourth week, nearly all reviews have come to a ￰3￱ the ￰4￱ a New Era of Crypto ETFs or Testing the SEC’s Patience? The latest entrant came from VanEck, which on Thursday filed an S-1 form for the VanEck Lido Staked Ethereum ￰5￱ fund is designed to track the performance of stETH, the liquid staking token issued by Lido, the largest Ethereum staking platform.

VanEck’s filing notes that the trust “expects to accrue certain staking rewards through its ownership of stETH,” reflecting the yield-generating nature of Lido’s liquid staking ￰6￱ currently holds about 8.5 million ETH, worth roughly $31 billion, offering a 3.3% staking yield to ￰7￱ registered a statutory trust in Delaware earlier this month, indicating early steps toward product launch.), marking one of the more unconventional filings of the ￰8￱ ETF analyst Eric Balchunas described it as “so niche… but then you could look up in 3-4 years it’s got a few billion,” calling the current ETF climate “a total land rush.” 21Shares filing for a 2x HYPE ￰9￱ is the kind of filing where you're like man, that is SO niche, idk..

but then you could look up in 3-4yrs it's got a few ￰10￱ a total land rush right now, just like with themes, curr hedging and smart beta in eras ￰11￱ — Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) October 17, 2025 Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest also added to the pile with three new Bitcoin ETFs earlier in the ￰12￱ ARK Bitcoin Yield ETF will pursue income through yield-based strategies like selling options, while the ARK DIET Bitcoin 1 and DIET Bitcoin 2 ETFs are structured to provide partial downside protection with varying thresholds tied to Bitcoin’s quarterly price movements. Meanwhile, Volatility Shares submitted filings for a suite of 3x and 5x leveraged ETFs tied to both crypto and major ￰13￱ said the filings included the first-ever 5x ETF proposal in the United States, an aggressive approach that has already raised concerns about regulatory compliance with the SEC’s Derivatives Rule (Rule 18f-4), which limits leverage to ￰14￱ Daly, director of the SEC’s Division of Investment Management, told Reuters that “it is unclear whether these ETFs would comply” with existing leverage ￰15￱ Shutdown Stalls SEC—What Happens to Crypto ETFs Now?

The SEC’s review process has effectively halted as the federal government enters its 17th day of shutdown , leaving most of its staff ￰16￱ a skeleton crew remains to handle essential operations, freezing dozens of pending filings, including a surge of crypto ETF ￰17￱ 16 crypto ETFs were awaiting final decisions this month, with at least 21 new applications filed in just the first eight days of ￰18￱ congressional action to reopen the government, the backlog is expected to grow further, pushing deadlines well into November.) September 29, 2025 The rule change, first outlined in July, intended to cut approval timelines from 240 days to 75 days , reducing the need for dual filings from asset managers and ￰19￱ reform could soon open the door for ETFs tracking Solana and XRP, but for now, filings such as 19b-4 forms and S-1 registrations remain ￰20￱ Inflows Surge Despite Regulatory Pause Despite the ongoing administrative slowdown, global appetite for crypto ETFs remains ￰21￱ data from ETFGI shows total ETF assets climbed to a record $12.7 trillion at the end of September, up 22.7% from $10.35 trillion at the close of ￰22￱ September alone, ￰23￱ attracted $152.5 billion in net inflows, the second-highest monthly total on ￰24￱ pushed year-to-date inflows to $951.27 billion, already surpassing last year’s full-year record of $740.78 billion.) October 13, 2025 Among standout performers, BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) has generated roughly $245 million in fees in just 22 months , making it the firm’s most profitable ETF to ￰25￱ $97.8 billion in assets, IBIT is on track to become the first ETF to cross the $100 billion mark faster than any in history.