Grayscale withdraws ETF registration applications for ADA, HBAR, and DOT

Grayscale Investments pulled the plug on three spot ETF registrations on August 7, 2026, quietly withdrawing its S-1 filings for funds tied to Cardano, Hedera, and Polkadot. The move was surgical in its execution: all three Form RW withdrawal requests were filed within 190 seconds of each other.

The withdrawals landed at 4:33:37 p.m. ET for Cardano, 4:34:55 p.m. ET for Hedera, and 4:36:47 p.m. ET for Polkadot.

What Grayscale actually filed, and why it matters

The original S-1 registrations for the Cardano and Polkadot ETFs were submitted to the SEC on August 29, 2025. The Hedera filing followed shortly after on September 9, 2025. Both proposed listing venues, Nasdaq and NYSE Arca, were named in associated exchange listing proposals known as 19b-4 filings.

Those exchange-listing filings had already been withdrawn several months before the S-1 pull. When an asset manager withdraws the exchange-listing application but leaves the registration statement standing, it usually means the product is on life support rather than actively in development.

The formal withdrawal language Grayscale used stated that the sponsor does not intend to proceed with the planned distribution of the Trust’s shares, that the registrations had not been declared effective, and that no shares were ever issued or sold. Grayscale has not offered any commercial, regulatory, or strategic explanation for the decision beyond that standard boilerplate language.

Portfolio pruning, not a strategic retreat

Grayscale’s Bitcoin and Ethereum products remain untouched. Five other altcoin ETF registrations are still in preliminary stages as of August 8, 2026. Staking-product registrations for Avalanche and Hyperliquid had already received approval prior to these withdrawals.

Market reaction to the withdrawals was essentially flat. No significant price movement was observed in ADA, HBAR, or DOT following the announcement, indicating that investors viewed this as a calculated decision to prune lower-priority products rather than a sweeping change in Grayscale’s ETF strategy.

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