21Shares Debuts Cronos ETP in US Amid Altcoin Fund Frenzy

Investment firm 21Shares debuted an exchange-traded product on Tuesday tracking the price of Cronos—the latest addition to a growing list of proposed or recently launched altcoin-based investment offerings in the U.S., according to the company’s public statement.

The ETP gives investors exposure to Cronos, without requiring them to directly hold the asset, with the goal of facilitating investments into a blockchain ecosystem that aims to drive real-world crypto adoption, 21Shares said Tuesday in its statement. 

Cronos is the native token of Crypto.com, which allows traders to interact with decentralised finance platforms, NFTs, and Web3 applications. It is compatible with both the Ethereum and Cosmos networks. 

Cronos was recently trading at $0.08636, down 1.54% in the past day, according to data provider CoinMarketCap.  

“By launching a Cronos ETP, we are offering investors easy, regulated exposure to a blockchain ecosystem that is driving real-world adoption and pioneering the future of Web3,” 21Shares financial products development head Mandy Chiu said in the statement. 

The debut of 21Shares’ Cronos ETP comes as issuers flood federal regulators in the U.S. with applications for a variety of altcoin-based funds amid evidence of widening investor appetite for investment vehicles tracking the prices of popular cryptocurrencies. 

Approved last year, spot bitcoin ETFs now manage more than $100 billion in assets, while funds based on Ethereum control over $7 billion in AUM, , according to data provider CoinGlass. With the Securities and Exchange Commission warmingto the crypto industry, issuers are hoping to replicate those successes with several other digital asset-based funds such as those trackingSolana and other altcoins, includingAVAX and  Sui. 

It also comes as Cronos gains traction with asset managers. In March, U.S. President Donald Trump’s financial-technology company Trump Media and Technology Group announced its plans to create ETFs tracking the prices of tokens such as Cronos and Bitcoin in partnership with centralized crypto exchange Crypto.com. The altcoin’s price jumped 30% to 0.10 following Trump Media’s announcement, CoinGecko data shows.

Edited by James Rubin