The Nasdaq exchange has officially submitted a Form 19b-4 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to list the 21Shares Sui ETF. This marks the beginning of the SEC's regulatory review process for a spot ETF that would provide regulated exposure to SUI, the native token of the Sui blockchain network. Earlier in May, 21Shares filed Form S-1 to register the fund, and now Nasdaq's filing furthers the application towards potential approval and trading on the exchange.
The ETF is designed to give institutional investors direct access to the spot price of SUI, with Coinbase designated as the custodian. 21Shares, along with asset manager Canary Capital, are among the only firms actively seeking to launch a Sui spot ETF in the U.S. market.
Following the Nasdaq filing, the SUI token witnessed a nearly 2% price increase, trading around $3.64, despite experiencing a 3% decline over the previous week and the recent $223 million exploit targeting Cetus Protocol, a decentralized exchange running on the Sui network. The security breach originated from a math library bug in Cetus rather than a fault in the Sui network itself. The Sui team took prompt action by freezing $160 million of stolen assets, offering a $6 million reward for recovery of the remaining funds, and launching a $10 million ecosystem security fund aimed at restoring investor confidence and preventing future incidents.
The SEC's decision timeline remains uncertain amid widespread regulatory delays on crypto ETF rulings; industry analysts predict that approvals, including for this Sui ETF, may not arrive until early Q4 2025. Nevertheless, Nasdaq's involvement and 21Shares’ continued progress represent important steps toward legitimizing SUI within regulated markets and expanding institutional access. Overall, the filing and responses to network challenges demonstrate resilience and growing mainstream integration of the Sui ecosystem.