American stock exchange Nasdaq has filed an application with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to list and trade shares of the VanEck Avalanche Trust, a proposed exchange-traded fund (ETF) designed to offer indirect exposure to the AVAX token.
The filing, signed by Nasdaq’s executive vice president and chief legal officer John Zecca, requests approval to list and trade shares of the VanEck Avalanche ETF under the company’s Rule 5711(d), which governs the trading of commodity-based trust shares.
If approved, the VanEck Avalanche ETF would allow investors to gain exposure to the Avalanche (AVAX) price without directly holding them. The ETF would hold the tokens and track their price, allowing investors to profit from the token’s performance without needing crypto wallets or using digital asset trading platforms.
According to the filing, asset manager VanEck Digital Assets will sponsor the trust, while a third-party custodian will hold all the Avalanche tokens on the trust’s behalf.
Excerpt of Nasdaq’s Avalanche ETF listing application. Source: Nasdaq
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VanEck joins Avalanche ETF race
The filing follows VanEck’s efforts to register a spot Avalanche ETF in the US. On March 10, the asset manager registered the crypto investment product as a trust corporate service company in Delaware.
The application marks the fourth standalone crypto ETF product submitted by VanEck, alongside its Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) and Solana (SOL) ETF products. In 2024, VanEck filed for a spot Solana ETF, becoming one of the first issuers to file for a SOL-based ETF.
On March 14, VanEck’s formal application for the Avalanche ETF was shared publicly via social media, signaling the firm’s commitment to the product.
Grayscale Investments is also pursuing an AVAX-backed ETF. On March 28, Nasdaq applied to list Grayscale’s Avalanche ETF. The product would be a conversion of a close-ended AVAX fund launched by the asset manager in August 2024.
Despite the interest in exchange-traded products based on AVAX, the token suffered massive losses in 2025 as the broader crypto markets saw a downturn. On April 10, the AVAX token traded at $18, which is 56% less than its January high of $41.
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