Canary Capital has amended its registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a proposed spot PEPE exchange-traded fund, updating a filing originally submitted in April.
The asset manager submitted Pre-Effective Amendment No. 1 to Form S-1 on October 2, 2026, for the Canary PEPE ETF. The proposed product would give investors exposure to PEPE through an exchange-traded structure, with the trust seeking to list its shares on the Cboe BZX Exchange. The registration statement has not yet become effective, meaning the ETF has not been approved or launched.
The filing comes as PEPE trades lower. According to CoinGecko market data, PEPE was trading at $0.0000054253, down nearly 7% over 24 hours at around 06:30 UTC on October 3. The price move provides market context but does not establish that the ETF filing caused the decline.
Canary Updates April PEPE ETF Filing
Canary first filed its S-1 for the PEPE ETF on April 8, 2026, proposing a fund that would hold spot PEPE directly rather than using futures, derivatives or leverage.
The latest filing retains that basic structure. The trust’s investment objective is to seek exposure to the price of PEPE held by the trust, less its expenses and liabilities. Its net asset value would calculated using the CoinDesk PEPE Benchmark Rate 60m NY Rate, which is based on trading activity from major PEPE platforms.
The proposed shares would trade on Cboe BZX if the listing and registration requirements are satisfied. The trust would create and redeem shares in baskets of 10,000 shares.
The ETF Would Hold PEPE Directly
Under the amended prospectus, BitGo Bank & Trust would serve as the custodian for the trust’s PEPE, while U.S. Bank would act as the cash custodian. U.S. Bancorp Fund Services would serve as transfer agent, while CSC Delaware Trust Company would act as trustee.
The filing also says the trust may initially hold up to 5% of its assets in ETH to pay transaction fees on the Ethereum network. The ETH would not be held for investment purposes.
Canary’s prospectus describes PEPE as an ERC-20 token launched on Ethereum in April 2023 and highlights the asset’s dependence on the network for transactions.
Filing Highlights PEPE Risks
The amended S-1 includes risk disclosures around PEPE’s volatility, concentrated ownership, liquidity, trading-platform risks, and reliance on community sentiment.
The filing states that PEPE’s value is influenced by online popularity, cultural relevance and social sentiment, and says promoters and the community associated with PEPE have not announced a particular blockchain-based utility beyond its branding and cultural associations. It also warns that significant-holder transactions may exert downward pressure on the token’s market price.
The document further describes the ETF as a passive investment vehicle. It would seek to track PEPE’s price through the stated benchmark, less the trust’s expenses and liabilities, rather than actively trade PEPE based on expected price movements.
What Comes Next
The amended filing represents another step in Canary’s attempt to bring a PEPE-based exchange-traded product in the U.S. market, but it does not guarantee approval.
The SEC must still declare the registration statement effective before the proposed shares can be sold. The proposed Cboe BZX listing also remains subject to the applicable exchange and regulatory processes.
The amendment follows a broader expansion of crypto ETF proposals beyond Bitcoin and Ether, while Canary’s PEPE filing would provide a proposed exchange-traded structure for exposure to PEPE.
Also Read: BlackRock’s $195.6 million Inflow Push Bitcoin ETFs Back Into Green
