VanEck Seeks AVAX ETF, but Token Price Slips

Global investment company VanEck has made a major move in the cryptocurrency investment landscape by filing an exchange-traded fund (ETF) dedicated to Avalanche (AVAX) in the United States.

VanEck filed the “VanEck Avalanche ETF” on March 10, 2025, in Delaware under filing number 10125689 as a trust corporate service company. The filing is consistent with VanEck’s earlier crypto ETF filings, indicating a strategic move to expand its cryptocurrency investment products.

Through this registration, Avalanche is now the fourth cryptocurrency for which VanEck has submitted a stand-alone ETF in the U.S., after Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Solana (SOL).

In June 2024, VanEck filed for a spot Solana ETF with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), positioning itself among the pioneers in offering such products. 

Initiated in 2020 by Ava Labs under the leadership of Emin Gün Sirer, Avalanche is a scalable smart contracts and decentralized applications (dApps) platform, competing with Ethereum. On coingecko, AVAX hit the top 10 market cap in 2021 but currently stands at 20th place with a $7 billion valuation.

AVAX Price Chart, Source: CoinGecko

The timing of VanEck’s filing is during a difficult time for the crypto space. AVAX has fallen 55% in 2025 and continues to fall, dropping around 5% over the past 24 hours to $16.78.

VanEck’s choice to focus on an Avalanche ETF ahead of one for XRP has been a source of debate within the crypto community. Some had expected an XRP ETF to be filed first, and debates have ensued as to what might be driving VanEck’s strategic decisions.

VanEck is not the only one chasing crypto ETFs. In October 2024, Grayscale, a leading crypto investment company, submitted to the SEC plans to turn its multi-coin fund—containing AVAX and four other digital assets—into an ETF.

ETF registration for individual digital assets such as Avalanche marks a burgeoning cryptocurrency space. Should the SEC approve it, a spot AVAX ETF would draw institutional investors in, bolstering liquidity and exposure for Avalanche.