Notice2025-14235
Self-Regulatory Organizations; Nasdaq Stock Market LLC; Order Instituting Proceedings To Determine Whether To Approve or Disapprove a Proposed Rule Change To List and Trade Shares of the VanEck Avalanche ETF Under Nasdaq Rule 5711(d) (Commodity-Based Trust Shares)
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
July 29, 2025
Issuing agencies
Securities and Exchange Commission
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 90 Issue 143 (Tuesday, July 29, 2025)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 143 (Tuesday, July 29, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 35744-35745]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2025-14235]
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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
[Release No. 34-103543; File No. SR-NASDAQ-2025-032]
Self-Regulatory Organizations; Nasdaq Stock Market LLC; Order
Instituting Proceedings To Determine Whether To Approve or Disapprove a
Proposed Rule Change To List and Trade Shares of the VanEck Avalanche
ETF Under Nasdaq Rule 5711(d) (Commodity-Based Trust Shares)
July 24, 2025.
I. Introduction
On April 9, 2025, The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (``Exchange'') filed
with the Securities and Exchange Commission (``Commission''), pursuant
to Section 19(b)(1) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (``Act'')
\1\ and Rule 19b-4 thereunder,\2\ a proposed rule change to list and
trade shares (``Shares'') of the VanEck Avalanche ETF (``Trust'') under
Nasdaq Rule 5711(d) (Commodity-Based Trust Shares). The proposed rule
change was published for comment in the Federal Register on April 29,
2025.\3\
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\1\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(1).
\2\ 17 CFR 240.19b-4.
\3\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 102917 (Apr. 23,
2025), 90 FR 17846 (``Notice''). Comments received on the proposed
rule change are available at: <a href="https://www.sec.gov/comments/sr-nasdaq-2025-032/srnasdaq2025032.htm">https://www.sec.gov/comments/sr-nasdaq-2025-032/srnasdaq2025032.htm</a>.
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On June 12, 2025, pursuant to Section 19(b)(2) of the Act,\4\ the
Commission designated a longer period within which to approve the
proposed rule change, disapprove the proposed rule change, or institute
proceedings to determine whether to disapprove the proposed rule
change.\5\ This order institutes
[[Page 35745]]
proceedings under Section 19(b)(2)(B) of the Act \6\ to determine
whether to approve or disapprove the proposed rule change.
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\4\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2).
\5\ See Securities Exchange Act Release No. 103239, 90 FR 25707
(June 17, 2025). The Commission designated July 28, 2025, as the
date by which the Commission shall approve or disapprove, or
institute proceedings to determine whether to disapprove, the
proposed rule change.
\6\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2)(B).
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II. Summary of the Proposal
As described in more detail in the Notice,\7\ the Exchange proposes
to list and trade the Shares of the Trust under Nasdaq Rule 5711(d),
which governs the listing and trading of Commodity-Based Trust Shares
on the Exchange.
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\7\ See Notice, supra note 3.
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According to the Exchange, the investment objective of the Trust is
for the Shares to reflect the performance of the price of AVAX,\8\ less
the expenses of the Trust's operations.\9\ In seeking to achieve its
investment objective, the Trust will hold AVAX and will value its
Shares daily based on the reported MarketVector Avalanche Benchmark
Rate (``Index'').\10\ When the Trust sells or redeems its Shares, it
will do so in cash and in-kind transactions with authorized
participants in blocks of 25,000 Shares.\11\ The Sponsor may, from time
to time, stake a portion of the Trust's assets through one or more
trusted staking providers, which may include an affiliate of the
Sponsor, and, in consideration for any staking activity in which the
Trust may engage, the Trust would receive certain staking rewards of
AVAX tokens.\12\
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\8\ The Exchange states that AVAX is the native token of the
Avalanche network and is a digital asset that is created and
transmitted through the operations of the peer-to-peer Avalanche
network, a dispersed network of computers that operates on
cryptographic software protocols based on open source code. See id.
at 17846.
\9\ See id. at 17847. VanEck Digital Assets, LLC is the sponsor
of the Trust and Delaware Trust Company is the trustee of the Trust.
A third party custodian will be responsible for the custody of the
Trust's AVAX. See id. at 17846.
\10\ See id. at 17846. The Exchange states that the Index is
calculated based on prices contributed by trading platforms that the
Sponsor's affiliate, MarketVector Indexes GmbH, believes represent
the top five AVAX trading platforms based on the industry leading
CCData Centralized Exchange Benchmark review report. See id.
\11\ See id.
\12\ See id.
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III. Proceedings To Determine Whether To Approve or Disapprove SR-
NASDAQ-2025-032 and Grounds for Disapproval Under Consideration
The Commission is instituting proceedings pursuant to Section
19(b)(2)(B) of the Act \13\ to determine whether the proposed rule
change should be approved or disapproved. Institution of proceedings is
appropriate at this time in view of the legal and policy issues raised
by the proposed rule change. Institution of proceedings does not
indicate that the Commission has reached any conclusions with respect
to any of the issues involved. Rather, the Commission seeks and
encourages interested persons to provide comments on the proposed rule
change.
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\13\ 15 U.S.C. 78s(b)(2)(B).
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Pursuant to Section 19(b)(2)(B) of the Act,\14\ the Commission is
providing notice of the grounds for disapproval under consideration.
The Commission is instituting proceedings to allow for additional
analysis of the proposed rule change's consistency with Section 6(b)(5)
of the Act, which requires, among other things, that the rules of a
national securities exchange be ``designed to prevent fraudulent and
manipulative acts and practices'' and ``to protect investors and the
public interest.'' \15\
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\14\ Id.
\15\ 15 U.S.C. 78f(b)(5).
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The Commission asks that commenters address the sufficiency of the
Exchange's statements in support of the proposal, which are set forth
in the Notice, in addition to any other comments they may wish to
submit about the proposed rule change. In particular, the Commission
seeks comment on whether the proposal to list and trade Shares of the
Trust, which would hold AVAX, is designed to prevent fraudulent and
manipulative acts and practices or raises any new or novel concerns not
previously contemplated by the Commission.
IV. Procedure: Request for Written Comments
The Commission requests that interested persons provide written
submissions of their views, data, and arguments with respect to the
issues identified above, as well as any other concerns they may have
with the proposal. In particular, the Commission invites the written
views of interested persons concerning whether the proposal is
consistent with Section 6(b)(5) or any other provision of the Act, and
the rules and regulations thereunder. Although there do not appear to
be any issues relevant to approval or disapproval that would be
facilitated by an oral presentation of views, data, and arguments, the
Commission will consider, pursuant to Rule 19b-4, any request for an
opportunity to make an oral presentation.\16\
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\16\ Section 19(b)(2) of the Act, as amended by the Securities
Acts Amendments of 1975, Public Law 94-29 (June 4, 1975), grants the
Commission flexibility to determine what type of proceeding--either
oral or notice and opportunity for written comments--is appropriate
for consideration of a particular proposal by a self-regulatory
organization. See Securities Acts Amendments of 1975, Senate Comm.
on Banking, Housing & Urban Affairs, S. Rep. No. 75, 94th Cong., 1st
Sess. 30 (1975).
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Interested persons are invited to submit written data, views, and
arguments regarding whether the proposed rule change should be approved
or disapproved by August 19, 2025. Any person who wishes to file a
rebuttal to any other person's submission must file that rebuttal by
September 2, 2025.
Comments may be submitted by any of the following methods:
Electronic Comments
<bullet> Use the Commission's internet comment form (<a href="https://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml">https://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml</a>); or
<bullet> Send an email to <a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#a9dbdcc5cc84cac6c4c4ccc7dddae9daccca87cec6df"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="5d2f283138703e3230303833292e1d2e383e733a322b">[email protected]</span></a>. Please include
file number SR-NASDAQ-2025-032 on the subject line.
Paper Comments
<bullet> Send paper comments in triplicate to Secretary, Securities
and Exchange Commission, 100 F Street NE, Washington, DC 20549-1090.
All submissions should refer to file number SR-NASDAQ-2025-032. This
file number should be included on the subject line if email is used. To
help the Commission process and review your comments more efficiently,
please use only one method. The Commission will post all comments on
the Commission's internet website (<a href="https://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml">https://www.sec.gov/rules/sro.shtml</a>). Copies of the filing also will be available for inspection
and copying at the principal office of the Exchange. Do not include
personal identifiable information in submissions; you should submit
only information that you wish to make available publicly. We may
redact in part or withhold entirely from publication submitted material
that is obscene or subject to copyright protection. All submissions
should refer to file number SR-NASDAQ-2025-032 and should be submitted
on or before August 19, 2025. Rebuttal comments should be submitted by
September 2, 2025.
For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets,
pursuant to delegated authority.\17\
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\17\ 17 CFR 200.30-3(a)(57).
Sherry R. Haywood,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2025-14235 Filed 7-28-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8011-01-P
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