T. Rowe Price, the asset manager with $1.8 trillion in assets under management, has submitted an amended S-1 registration statement to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for its planned Price Active Crypto ETF, an actively managed fund designed to provide digital asset exposure.
Up to 15 Crypto Tokens on the Table
Filed Monday, the updated document lists the digital assets the fund may hold: bitcoin, ether, solana, XRP, cardano, avalanche, litecoin, polkadot, dogecoin, hedera, bitcoin cash, chainlink, stellar, shiba inu, and sui. However, not all assets will be held simultaneously. Under normal conditions, the ETF plans to maintain between five and fifteen crypto assets at any time, using an active management strategy rather than tracking a single token or passively following a benchmark.
The portfolio will be rebalanced using quantitative models incorporating fundamentals, valuation, and market momentum, with the goal of outperforming the FTSE US Listed Crypto Index, per the filing.
Custody and Trading Structure
The amended filing confirms that Anchorage Digital Bank N.A. will serve as the crypto asset custodian. For now, the fund will use a cash subscription and redemption model — investors create or redeem ETF shares using cash rather than transferring crypto directly. The filing notes that the structure could evolve to allow in-kind transactions in the future, a model some crypto ETFs employ to exchange shares for underlying digital assets.
Staking Considered
Another notable addition is the possibility of participating in staking, a process where token holders lock up assets to help secure a blockchain network in exchange for rewards. T. Rowe Price said staking could be pursued in the future depending on risk considerations, tax treatment, and regulatory guidance.
The initial application was filed in October last year. The amended S-1 provides concrete details on the token universe, custody arrangements, and staking, marking a further step by traditional asset managers into the digital asset space.