Canary Capital Files First Spot PEPE ETF Application in the U.S.

Canary Capital filed a Form S-1 with the SEC for the first spot PEPE ETF in the United States. The proposed fund, called the CANARY PEPE ETF, would track the memecoin's price with all PEPE held by a custodian. It marks the first ETF application for PEPE under U.S. jurisdiction.

What Canary Capital is proposing

All fund assets would consist of PEPE tokens held by a custodian. One exception: up to 5% of the trust's assets can be held in Ethereum to cover gas fees on the network, since PEPE runs on that blockchain. The filing was submitted as a Form S-1 to the SEC.

Canary Capital has been aggressive about filing for niche crypto ETFs. The firm already has applications in for XRP, Solana, Hedera (HBAR), and Sei (SEI). In November 2025, it filed for a Mog Coin ETF, tracking a token ranked 353rd by market cap. PEPE sits at 45th.

Risks the filing itself warns about

Canary Capital named the risks plainly. As of January 2026, the top 10 wallets held approximately 41% of all circulating PEPE. Ownership is concentrated. On top of that, rules around PEPE and the Ethereum network "continue to evolve," which may affect demand.

The market numbers tell a similar story. PEPE has fallen nearly 85% from its December 2024 peak. By market cap, it represents roughly 9% of Dogecoin, the largest memecoin on the market.

What the Dogecoin ETF experience tells us

In November 2025, Grayscale launched a Dogecoin ETF. Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas predicted at least $12 million in first-day volume. The fund got $1.4 million. One-eighth of the estimate.

The question for PEPE ETF is the same: will the audience show up in regulated form? Memecoin traders tend to use DEX platforms and on-chain wallets, not brokerage accounts. Filing with the SEC does not automatically create institutional demand for a meme.

Is the market ready for memecoin ETFs

Analysts have been saying for months that altcoin ETF filings would surge once the CLARITY Act passes. Fabian Dori of Sygnum Bank said in December 2025 that the number of new filings would jump as soon as U.S. regulations clarify. Canary is not waiting. It is building a shelf of niche crypto ETFs ahead of the regulatory moment.

Whether this fund gets approved or not, the filing says something clear. Memecoins are no longer treated as too fringe for regulated markets. The question now is not whether to file, but whether anyone will buy.