Asset manager Canary Capital has filed a Form S-1 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to launch the CANARY PEPE ETF, a spot exchange-traded fund that would hold the memecoin PEPE in trust. The filing says a custodian would safeguard the fund’s PEPE holdings and that the trust could keep up to 5% of its assets in Ether (ETH) to cover Ethereum network transaction fees.
Canary, which already lists crypto ETFs tracking XRP, Solana (SOL), Hedera (HBAR) and Sei (SEI), has been active in proposing niche crypto funds. In November 2025 it filed for an ETF tied to Mog Coin, a small memecoin ranked about 353rd by market cap; PEPE currently sits much higher, around 45th.
PEPE, a token inspired by the Pepe the Frog meme that gained momentum on social media in 2024, remains well below its December 2024 all-time high of $0.00002368—down roughly 85% from that peak. The filing cites Etherscan data showing about 513,392 PEPE holders, while warning that ownership is highly concentrated: as of January 2026 the ten largest PEPE wallet addresses held about 41% of the circulating supply.
Observers say the arrival of more altcoin-focused ETFs could shape the next altcoin cycle, though opinions differ on whether traditional altcoin seasons will return. Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan has suggested that conventional altcoin cycles may be over, with institutional demand shifting toward yield-bearing digital instruments or assets that capture real-world revenue. Sygnum Bank’s CIO Fabian Dori told Cointelegraph in December that clearer U.S. crypto rules, such as passage of the CLARITY Act or similar legislation, could spur a wave of new ETF filings through 2026.
Regulatory progress in the U.S. has been uneven. The CLARITY Act has not advanced as quickly as some industry participants expected, in part because of disputes over rules for stablecoin yields. Canary’s filing notes that changing U.S. regulations for PEPE and the Ethereum network could affect the token’s use and demand.
The S-1 comes after a modest debut for the first U.S. spot Dogecoin ETF. Grayscale’s Dogecoin product launched in November and saw first-day trading volumes well below some forecasts—ETF analyst Eric Balchunas had projected at least $12 million, while day-one volume was about $1.4 million. Canary’s PEPE ETF proposal highlights continued interest among issuers to broaden crypto ETF lineups beyond Bitcoin and Ether into more speculative tokens.