Is an ETF on SEI coming to the USA?

Yesterday, 21Shares announced that it had filed a request with the SEC to issue a SEI ETF in the USA.

Since after the SEC’s change of course due to Donald Trump’s electoral victory, the main obstacles regarding crypto have been removed, it seems quite likely that 21Shares’ request will eventually be accepted and approved. Thus, in the coming months, an ETF on SEI might also land on US exchanges, in addition to the existing crypto ones. 

Crypto ETFs

The first true ETF collateralized in spot cryptocurrencies landed on the US exchanges in January of last year, and of course, it was on Bitcoin.

Previously, similar products were already available, but not in the US markets (for example, there were some in Canada) or not spot, meaning not directly collateralized with the tokens of cryptocurrencies.

The success of spot Bitcoin ETFs in the USA has been remarkable, while the same cannot be said for those on spot ETH, launched at the end of July last year. 

To be honest, however, after several months of significant suffering, starting from May 2025 even the spot ETFs on ETH in the USA began to perform well at first, and then even excellently in the last two months.

As for other cryptos, for now on the US exchanges, the launch of spot ETFs on Solana and spot ETFs on XRP is awaited, while there are already futures-backed ones, for example, on the price of SOL. 

Many requests in this regard have been submitted to the SEC following Trump’s electoral victory in November 2024, therefore it is possible that they will be approved one after the other. 

It should be noted that generally the agency takes all the necessary time to proceed with the examination and possible approval, so it will presumably be necessary to wait until the final deadlines to see them approved. 

The one on SEI, presented yesterday, might end up being approved only in 2026.

The SEI Crypto

SEI is a cryptocurrency that entered the crypto markets only two years ago.

To tell the truth, this should theoretically make the approval of an ETF in the USA less likely, but with the new direction of the SEC, it seems unlikely that the agency will throw a wrench in the works. 

The initial price of SEI was around $0.17, then it dropped below $0.1 in October 2023. 

However, already the following month it recorded a rebound thanks to which it recovered all the losses, followed by an actual mini-speculative bubble that within three months took it to the all-time high of $1.1.

However, that was just a mini-bubble, which inevitably ended up bursting in April of last year. 

At that point, the price of SEI collapsed, but still stopped well above the initial level. 

At the end of 2024, thanks to the Trump-trade, there was a second mini-bubble, this time much more contained, so much so that it couldn’t even rise above $0.7. 

In fact, in the meantime, some competing projects had landed on the crypto markets, which ended up taking over SEI, especially in the short and medium term, so much so that during 2025 the price of SEI even fell significantly below the lows of 2024, and also below the starting level. 

The lowest point of 2025 was reached at $0.14 in April, although it then bounced back to return to an area between $0.26 and $0.37. 

It is therefore not certain that the potential stock market debut of an ETF on SEI could significantly positively influence the price of this cryptocurrency. 

21Shares: the request to the SEC for the ETF on SEI

21Shares is one of the most important issuers of crypto ETFs in the world. 

In reality, it is a Swiss company primarily active in the European market, where it has launched several ETPs (mainly in the form of ETNs). 

It is likely that, globally, it is the company that has issued the highest number of crypto ETFs around the world. 

In the USA, however, while remaining among the companies working on issuing the highest number of possible crypto ETFs, for now, it only plays a backup role, behind giants like BlackRock, Fidelity, and GrayScale. 

However, while the giants are focusing on ETFs of the main cryptos (especially Bitcoin and Ethereum), companies like 21Shares are also issuing ETFs on smaller or second or third-tier cryptos, such as SEI.

The request submitted to the SEC by 21Shares concerns the issuance of the so-called 21Shares SEI ETF, which is an exchange-traded fund that will serve as a passive investment vehicle that simply replicates the price of Sei tokens.

It should be added, however, that the company also stated that it might perform staking operations on that ETF, if the tax situation allows it.