Solana News Today: Canary Capital Files for First U.S. Staked Injective ETF

Canary Capital has taken a significant step toward expanding its crypto portfolio by filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on July 17. The digital asset manager is seeking approval to launch a staked Injective (INJ) exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States. The proposed Canary Staked INJ ETF aims to track the price of Injective’s native token (INJ) and distribute staking yields, offering investors a regulated way to gain exposure to Injective’s token while earning staking rewards. This move comes as staking-based products gain popularity, providing investors with a new avenue to earn rewards from staking while also tracking the price of a cryptocurrency.

Canary Capital’s filing follows the creation of a trust in Delaware for the ETF, mirroring the approach taken by other firms seeking to introduce stakeholder products to the market under U.S. regulation. The regulatory environment remains complex, but there are signs of progress. SEC Chair Paul Atkins and Commissioner Hester Peirce have both suggested that some staking products may not fall under traditional securities laws. The SEC is currently developing guidance to clarify how such products can be approved, which could pave the way for more staking-based ETFs in the future.

Canary’s new filing comes on the heels of the launch of the REX-Osprey Solana Staking ETF, the first staking ETF approved in the U.S. Meanwhile, Grayscale also received conditional approval for a crypto fund that includes staking assets, although that decision has since been put on hold. According to Canary, this new INJ ETF is a direct response to rising demand for regulated exposure to Injective. The firm added that the fund aims to remove technical hurdles and offer a safe, compliant way for more people to participate. This is not Canary Capital’s first attempt at a staking ETF. The firm has also filed for ETFs based on Cronos (CRO), Tron (TRX), SEI, and other networks, including Pengu, Sui, Hedera, and Litecoin.

Injective is a high-speed, Layer 1 blockchain that supports both traditional finance (TradFi) and decentralized finance (DeFi) use cases. It recently added full support for the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), making it more compatible with existing Ethereum-based apps. Backed by top investors such as Binance, Jump Crypto, Pantera Capital, and Mark Cuban, Injective continues to attract significant attention. The proposed ETF is significant as it would be the first of its kind in the United States, offering investors a regulated path to access the native Injective token through traditional brokerages and banking channels. While Europe already has INJ and Solana exchange-traded products (ETPs) that capture staking rewards, this ETF would provide U.S. investors with regulated access to both the market performance of INJ and its staking-derived income. This could make a sophisticated crypto yield mechanism easily accessible and tradable for both institutional and retail investors, who might otherwise face significant obstacles when staking tokens directly.

The filing of the Canary Staked INJ ETF follows the successful launch of the first U.S. Solana Staking ETF earlier this month, which demonstrated both heavy investor interest and the SEC’s evolving comfort with staking-based crypto funds. The agency’s current leadership has broadly signaled that staking, in this context, may fall outside the bounds of securities regulation—at least for now—offering hope to both issuers and crypto investors eager for exposure to new yield opportunities. Canary Capital has previously registered a statutory trust for a staked Injective ETF in Delaware as the first step for regulatory approval. The network aims to provide DeFi infrastructure and real-world asset (RWA) tokenization. If approved, the Canary Staked INJ ETF will mark a historic advance for both crypto and mainstream investors, blending high-growth potential with yield, all wrapped in the security and accessibility of a U.S.-regulated ETF. This development could usher in a new era for yield-generating digital asset funds in the U.S., providing investors with a regulated and accessible way to participate in the growing DeFi ecosystem.