Today in crypto, analysts say Canary Capital’s Litecoin and HBAR funds are set to go after the US government reopens, BitGo secured a VARA license as Dubai’s regulator announces a wave of enforcement actions and NYSE parent Intercontinental Exchange backs Polymarket with a $2 billion investment at a $9 billion valuation.
Canary’s Litecoin, HBAR ETFs ready for ‘go-time’ after gov shutdown
Canary Capital appears to be on the cusp of having its Litecoin (LTC) and HBAR (HBAR) exchange-traded funds (ETF) approved after filing key final details on Tuesday, but they’re unlikely to launch while the US government is shut down.
Canary’s amendments added a fee of 0.95% and the ticker “LTCC” for its Canary Litecoin ETF and the ticker “HBR” for its Canary HBAR ETF, which Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said are “typically the last thing updated [before] go-time.”
He added that with the US government shut down and the Securities and Exchange Commission largely dark, it’s unknown when they’d be approved, but the filings “look pretty finalized to me.”
Meanwhile, ETF issuer Tuttle Capital filed for 60 new 3x ETFs, while GraniteShares submitted a batch of ETF applications holding a range of assets, including Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH). ProShares also entered the fray with a slew of filings.
Balchunas said there are close to 250 ETF filings looking to give 3x leverage linked to cryptocurrencies and issuers’ “spaghetti cannon” so many at once because they “make good money.”
BitGo secures VARA license amid regulatory crackdown
Digital asset infrastructure company BitGo said it had secured regulatory approval to offer specific services in Dubai amid the agency’s announcement of several enforcement actions.
In a Tuesday notice, BitGo said its Middle East and North Africa (MENA) arm had secured a broker-dealer license from the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) in Dubai, allowing the company to provide “regulated digital asset trading and intermediation services to institutional clients.”
The move came just a few weeks after BitGo said its European subsidiary could offer crypto services to local investors under a license from Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority.
“This approval allows us to serve institutional clients with greater scale, confidence, and integrity, while also underscoring the accelerating momentum within Dubai’s digital asset ecosystem,” said Ben Choy, general manager of BitGo MENA.
The notice of the licensing approval came less than 24 hours after VARA said it had issued financial penalties against 19 companies for “unlicensed Virtual Asset activities and “breaches of VARA’s Marketing Regulations.” VARA’s enforcement actions filed in 2025 included those against the TON DLT Foundation and Hokk Finance.
NYSE parent invests $2 billion in Polymarket at $9 billion valuation
Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), has invested $2 billion in cryptocurrency-based prediction market Polymarket.
According to a Tuesday Polymarket X post, the ICE invested $2 billion in the prediction market. The deal values Polymarket at a $9 billion post-money valuation.
ICE’s NYSE is the world’s largest stock exchange by market capitalization, exceeding $25 trillion as of July 2024. Its interest is the latest move that fuses the United States’ traditional financial landscape with the cryptocurrency industry.
Polymarket is a crypto-powered prediction market where people buy and sell “shares” in real-world event outcomes (elections, sports, crypto prices), with market prices reflecting the crowd’s implied probabilities. Trades typically settle in stablecoins, and markets are resolved against predefined, verifiable sources, with access for US users restricted due to regulatory reasons.