The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission opened a public comment period on April 27 on a NYSE Arca proposal that would impose an 85% asset-eligibility threshold on crypto and commodity trust listings, a rule change that names BTC, ETH, SOL, and XRP as qualifying assets and could meaningfully reshape the path for multi-asset ETF approvals.
The filing amends Rule 8.201-E, the generic listing framework for commodity-based trust shares. Under the proposal, at least 85% of a trust’s net asset value must be held in assets that already satisfy NYSE Arca’s eligibility criteria — those whose futures contracts have traded on designated markets for at least six months. The remaining 15% can be allocated to non-qualifying instruments. Derivatives would be counted by aggregate gross notional value rather than market value, a change that could disqualify trusts relying heavily on options structures.
The filing’s worked examples make the consequences concrete, per a notice published by the SEC. A trust with 95% allocation across BTC, ETH, SOL, and XRP clears the bar. A trust pairing spot BTC with OTC call options on a Bitcoin ETF, where qualifying exposure lands at only 71%, fails. Sponsors would need to monitor compliance daily and notify NYSE Arca immediately if they fall out of range. Non-fungible assets and collectibles are explicitly excluded from the commodity definition, closing the generic-listing route for those products entirely.
Nasdaq submitted a parallel filing under SR-NASDAQ-2026-032, signaling broader exchange-level coordination. Both filings cite recent approvals of the Grayscale Digital Large Cap Fund and the Bitwise 10 Crypto Index ETF as precedent for multi-asset structures, according to The Currency Analytics. The framework builds on the joint SEC-CFTC commodity taxonomy issued on March 17, which classified 16 digital assets — including XRP — as commodities for ETP and derivatives purposes.
The pipeline impact is the central question for issuers. Over 90 crypto ETF applications were pending as of late 2025, spanning single-asset funds, staking products, and multi-asset baskets. T. Rowe Price amended its Active Crypto ETF filing on April 29 to name XRP alongside BTC, ETH, and SOL as potential holdings, per Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas.
Approval of the 85/15 framework would compress timelines for compliant baskets while pushing more exotic structures off the generic-listing track. The comment window runs 21 to 45 days from the April 27 notice; the SEC can approve, reject, or open further proceedings before issuing a final decision. For sponsors, the takeaway is straightforward: build a basket leaning on the four qualifying majors and monitor daily, or expect a longer individual review.
