In the crypto industry today, analysts say Canary Capital’s Litecoin and HBAR funds will be depleted as US government reopens, BitGo secures VARA license as Dubai regulator announces wave of enforcement actions, and NYSE parent Intercontinental Exchange backs Polymarket with $2 billion investment dollars with a valuation of USD 9 billion.
Canary’s Litecoin and HBAR ETFs ready to launch after government shutdown
Canary Capital appears to be on the verge of approving Litecoin (LTC) and HBAR (HBAR) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) after submitting key final details on Tuesday, but it is unlikely they will launch until the U.S. government shutdown.
The Canary patches added a 0.95% fee and an “LTCC” ticker for the Canary Litecoin ETF and an “HBR” ticker for the Canary HBAR ETF, which Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said are “usually the last thing updated [before] It’s time to go.”
He added that due to the U.S. government shutdown and the largely dark operation of the Securities and Exchange Commission, it’s unclear when they will be approved, but the proposals “look pretty finalized.”
Meanwhile, ETF issuer Tuttle Capital has filed for 60 new 3x ETFs, while GraniteShares has filed a series of ETF applications across a range of assets including Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH). ProShares has also entered the fray with a slew of submissions.
Balchunas said there have been close to 250 applications submitted to ETFs looking to provide 3x leverage related to cryptocurrencies and issuers’ “spaghetti division” at once because they “make good money.”
BitGo Secures VARA License in the Face of Regulatory Attacks
Digital asset infrastructure company BitGo said it has received regulatory approval to offer certain services in Dubai after the agency announced several enforcement actions.
In BitGo’s Tuesday announcement he said its Middle East and North Africa (MENA) branch has obtained a broker-dealer license from the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) in Dubai, enabling the company to provide “regulated digital asset trading and intermediation services to institutional clients.”
The move comes just weeks after BitGo said its European subsidiary could offer crypto services to local investors under a license issued by Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority.
“This approval allows us to serve institutional clients on a larger scale, with greater confidence and integrity, while highlighting the growing momentum in Dubai’s digital asset ecosystem,” said Ben Choy, CEO of BitGo MENA.
Notification of license approval came less than 24 hours after VARA he said imposed fines on 19 companies for “unlicensed activities related to virtual assets and “violations of the VARA Marketing Regulations.” VARA enforcement actions taken in 2025 included actions against the TON DLT Foundation and Hokk Finance.
NYSE parent invests $2 billion in Polymarket at a $9 billion valuation
Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the parent company of the Novel York Stock Exchange (NYSE), has invested $2 billion in cryptocurrency-based forecast marketplace Polymarket.
According to a Tuesday report from Polymarket X postICE has invested $2 billion in the prediction market. The deal brings Polymarket’s post-cash valuation to $9 billion.
ICE’s NYSE is the world’s largest stock exchange by market capitalization, extraordinary $25 trillion as of July 2024. His interest is the latest move that combines the customary U.S. financial landscape with the cryptocurrency industry.
Polymarket is a cryptocurrency-based prediction market where people buy and sell “shares” of the outcomes of real-world events (elections, sports, cryptocurrency prices), with market prices reflecting the crowd’s implicit probabilities. Trades are typically settled on stablecoins and markets are settled against pre-defined, verifiable sources, with access restricted to US users for regulatory reasons.
