Grayscale has filed a spot BNB ETF with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, seeking to convert its existing BNB Trust into a publicly traded fund. After the filing came into view, BNB rose 0.11% over 24 hours to $891, pushing the token back into focus as traders and issuers watch whether regulated U.S. access can expand beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum.
The filing was submitted on January 23, 2026. If approved, the product would hold actual BNB rather than futures contracts, giving investors direct price exposure without requiring them to custody the token themselves. One notable feature in Grayscale’s structure is staking, which could allow the fund to earn network rewards. That makes the proposal more ambitious, but it may also invite closer SEC review.
VanEck and Grayscale are both pushing the BNB ETF track
Grayscale is not the first issuer to move on a BNB ETF. VanEck filed its initial S-1 for a product called VBNB in May 2025, nearly eight months earlier. Later in 2025, VanEck removed staking from the structure, a change widely seen as an effort to reduce regulatory friction and improve its odds during the approval process.
Grayscale chose a different route by keeping staking in place. That could make the fund more attractive to some investors, though it also adds another layer of questions for regulators. For now, the two firms are less a simple head-to-head contest than part of a broader attempt to bring BNB into the U.S. ETF market.
Past ETF launches shaped capital flows in crypto
The market reaction is tied to what happened with earlier spot ETF approvals. When Grayscale’s Bitcoin Trust converted into a spot BTC ETF in January 2024, Bitcoin climbed near $49,000 before correcting 15% to 20% as more than $18 billion left GBTC. During that period, capital rotated into newly launched BTC ETFs, which drew over $10 billion in early inflows, while many major altcoins fell 10% to 30%.
A related pattern appeared with Ethereum. After approval of the Grayscale Ethereum Trust in mid-2024, ETH gained more than 25% before approval, and ecosystem tokens outperformed after launch. Those examples are central to the current argument around BNB: if a similar ETF structure reaches the market, institutional demand could expand.
Regulatory review remains the main obstacle
That said, neither BNB ETF has been approved. Both filings remain under review, and Binance’s past legal troubles continue to hang over the process, including the company’s large U.S. settlement in 2023. Those issues are likely to shape how regulators assess the token and the product structure around it.
The SEC is expected to examine custody arrangements, manipulation risks, and whether BNB can be clearly treated as a non-security. Any of those points could extend the timeline. Former Binance CEO CZ described the development as a positive step for crypto and said regulated access would help position the U.S. as a global crypto hub. For now, the BNB ETF story sits between growing issuer interest and unresolved regulatory scrutiny.