The ETF Floodgates Open: 126 Applications and the Rise of DATcos

The spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs of 2024 were just the opening act. In 2026, the ETF wrapper is expanding across the crypto market at a pace few predicted — and it's reshaping how institutions get exposure.

The turning point came in September 2025, when the SEC approved generic listing standards for commodity-based trusts, streamlining approvals. That cleared the way for the first spot altcoin ETFs in October 2025 — starting with Solana and XRP, then Litecoin and Hedera. Investors could suddenly access a menu of tokens through ordinary brokerage accounts, and over 126 additional crypto ETF applications are now pending review, including products for DeFi protocols and even meme coins.

Smarter wrappers, deeper integration

The introduction of in-kind creations and redemptions in mid-2025 made these products cheaper and more efficient, and some ETFs now incorporate staking — letting investors earn yield while keeping simple spot exposure. This is the institutional on-ramp that a Solana ETF could widen further, and it feeds directly into the debate over Bitcoin dominance and altcoin rotation.

The story of 2026 isn't whether Wall Street adopts crypto — it's how many wrappers it builds to do so.

Running alongside is a parallel narrative: Digital Asset Treasury Companies, or DATcos — public companies that hold crypto on their balance sheets, giving stock-market investors indirect exposure. Together, ETFs and DATcos are threading crypto ever deeper into traditional finance.