October was supposed to be the month when long-awaited crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs) finally hit U.S. markets. Deadlines for the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to approve or deny several spot crypto ETF applications were lined up throughout the month. But when the U.S. government shut down, the process froze — and deadlines stopped mattering.
Now November could take October’s place. Several issuers are using a procedural route that doesn’t require an active SEC sign-off. It’s the same approach that allowed four crypto ETFs — two from Canary Capital, one from Bitwise and one from Grayscale — to start trading earlier this week despite the regulatory paralysis.
Issuers are filing updated S-1 registration statements that include “no delaying amendment” language. Under U.S. securities law, those filings automatically become effective after 20 days unless the SEC steps in to issue a stay or request changes. For the four ETFs that listed this week, the SEC didn’t act, allowing them to go live by default.
That success has sparked a wave of new filings. On Thursday, Fidelity submitted an updated S-1 for its spot Solana ETF, and Canary Capital did the same for its XRP ETF. If the SEC continues to follow its current track and doesn’t block the process, the market could see its first XRP fund as soon as November 13.
Still, there are limits to how far this workaround can go. While the SEC has already reviewed filings tied to Solana, HBAR and Litecoin ETFs, it hasn’t engaged much with the XRP application — a gap that could prompt the agency to halt its automatic approval.
“I think it’s possible we see a bunch of the funds launch next month. And that could be true whether or not the government reopens. But there are funds with filings that simply have not yet received any feedback from the SEC on their S-1s (prospectuses) and I’m not sure that they can launch without the SEC getting back to work,” said James Seyffart, ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. “So yes a bunch will likely launch next month but there are some that are simply unlikely to launch without the government reopening.”
For investors, the shift marks a new phase in the yearslong effort to bring crypto ETFs to U.S. markets. Instead of waiting for the SEC’s formal blessing, issuers are using procedural mechanics to move forward. Whether that momentum carries through November may depend less on market readiness — and more on whether the government gets back to work.
