Crypto ETFs Enter Maturity Phase as IRS and SEC Actions Drive Rapid Expansion of Products

A few years ago, a long government shutdown would have been seen as a crisis for traditional markets and an opportunity for crypto traders. That tension framed the opening of a wide-ranging discussion about how much the digital asset market has changed since then at the ETP Forum in New York on Tuesday.

The panel, made up of exchange-traded fund (ETF) issuers, auditors, lawyers and derivatives specialists, walked through the forces reshaping the crypto ETF space and the operational work happening behind the scenes to keep pace with rapid product expansion.

One of the clearest themes was the shift from crypto as a speculative trading class to crypto as an investment class. Earlier cycles were driven by price spikes, momentum and retail enthusiasm. Today’s environment looks different. ETFs now hold a meaningful share of bitcoin’s (BTC) market cap, and new spot funds for ether (ETH) and major altcoins have brought the asset class into mainstream brokerage channels. This access has created new expectations. Investors now want ETFs that behave more like long-term holdings and less like stand-alone bets.

A major catalyst for that shift came from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The agency released guidance that gives funds a safe path to stake assets like ether and solana (SOL) without jeopardizing their tax status. Staking is how many blockchains secure their networks, and it produces predictable yield. Before the ruling, investors had to choose between the safety of an ETF and the staking rewards that private wallets offer. Now funds can earn and distribute those rewards, which brings on-chain economics into the regulated world. For issuers, staking also forces new discipline: they must manage lockups, liquidity and policies that keep redemption processes running even when assets are bonded to a network.

Regulation also shifted on the listing side. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) introduced generic listing standards that let exchanges approve certain crypto ETFs without individual exemption requests. That created a fast lane for new products. Solana, litecoin (LTC) and hedera (HBAR) ETFs appeared soon after the rules landed. The standards rely heavily on surveillance agreements and volume data from established venues, which give regulators comfort that they can detect manipulation. The agency plans to widen the list as more assets meet those requirements, which could open the door for dozens of additional funds.

This wave of approvals has forced firms to refine their internal machinery. Auditors must prepare for quarterly reporting on 33 Act funds and handle tax events triggered by forks or protocol changes.

Swap desks are building structures that deliver leverage, staking economics and synthetic exposure without requiring funds to hold the underlying tokens. Issuers are integrating in-kind transactions, which help ETFs mirror the way crypto moves across markets. Each change moves the products closer to the full experience of holding assets directly, but with the guardrails that regulated funds provide.

The panel also explored how index products may shape the next stage of adoption. Many investors no longer want to pick individual blockchains. They want diversified exposure that updates automatically as the sector evolves. Issuers have already begun introducing diversified crypto indexes, and more are coming. The 40 Act framework is often better suited for these funds because it supports active management, rebalancing and tax efficiency that grantor trusts cannot offer.

Another topic was the rise of digital asset treasuries, or DATs. These public companies hold tokens as their primary asset and often use debt to increase exposure. They operate more like leveraged crypto vehicles than ETFs, and their structure creates a different risk profile. Panelists noted that DATs offer flexibility and a spokesperson-driven narrative, but ETFs still provide clearer mandates, tighter tracking and established redemption flows.

Futures and derivatives rounded out the conversation. Retail traders gained early familiarity with perpetual futures on offshore platforms, but many still avoid regulated futures due to margin complexity and higher costs. Some panelists expect greater interest as the Commodity and Future Commission’s (CFTC) oversight of crypto grows, but others believe ETFs will remain the easier path for most investors.

The session closed on a shared point: crypto ETFs have moved past the novelty phase. They now sit inside a broad regulatory, operational and strategic framework that resembles the rest of the investment world. The challenge ahead is less about launching access products and more about maintaining the infrastructure needed to support a growing ecosystem of strategies, assets and investors.