Grayscale Registers “Grayscale BNB Trust” in Delaware: BNB Eyes Spot ETF Approval

Grayscale Investments, the world’s largest digital currency asset management company, officially registered “Grayscale BNB Trust” in Delaware, United States on January 8, 2026. The entity type is a statutory trust with file number 10465871.

This move marks an important first step for BNB toward obtaining a spot exchange-traded fund approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

01 Event Core: Grayscale’s Pioneering Move

According to documents from the Delaware government website, Grayscale registered Grayscale BNB Trust on January 8, 2026, with its legal structure being a domestic statutory trust.

This is not an isolated action. On the same day, Grayscale also registered a similar trust entity for its planned Hyperliquid token ETF.

For traditional financial giants like Grayscale, registering a statutory trust entity in Delaware is a standard and necessary legal prerequisite before formally submitting an ETF application to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. This paves the way for subsequent submission of a detailed Form S-1 registration statement.

02 Grayscale’s Strategic Landscape

Grayscale is no newcomer to the industry. As a subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, it currently manages approximately $35 billion in crypto assets, making it the absolute leader in this field.

Before BNB, Grayscale had already successfully transformed a series of mainstream cryptocurrencies into regulated financial products. To date, Grayscale has launched nine crypto asset-focused ETFs on the market.

Beyond products already listed, Grayscale’s application pipeline continues to grow, including ETFs for other major altcoins such as Hedera, Avalanche, and Bittensor.

03 Market Competition and BNB’s Unique Position

Grayscale is not the only institution optimistic about BNB ETF prospects. As early as April 2025, VanEck, a global investment management company with $181.4 billion in assets under management, had already registered a similar BNB trust and submitted an S-1 application to the SEC in May.

This competitive landscape where multiple giants are deploying simultaneously highlights BNB’s unique value in the eyes of traditional financial institutions. BNB is not only the native token of the world’s leading trading platform, but also the core pillar of the entire BNB Chain ecosystem.

This ecosystem includes BNB Smart Chain, the opBNB Layer 2 network, and the decentralized storage network BNB Greenfield, forming a vast multi-chain Web3 world. The native token BNB is used to pay for on-chain transaction fees, participate in governance, and serve as a foundational asset within the ecosystem.

04 Market Data and BNB’s Current Status

As of January 9, 2026, according to Gate market data, BNB’s latest price is $889.7, up 0.63% in the past 24 hours and up 2.42% in the past 7 days.

Its market cap stands at $122.54 billion, firmly holding the fifth position in the global cryptocurrency market cap ranking. Despite broad market adjustments, BNB’s performance has been relatively resilient.

BNB’s all-time high price was recorded on October 13, 2025, reaching $1,369.99. From the current price, there remains considerable upside potential. Below are some key on-chain and market data for BNB:

05 Future Path and Investor Outlook

Grayscale’s registration in Delaware is only the beginning of a lengthy regulatory process. Next, the company is expected to submit a Form S-1 registration statement to the SEC, which will detail the ETF’s structure, investment strategy, fees, and risk factors.

A positive regulatory backdrop is that the SEC has already approved universal listing standards for cryptocurrency ETFs. This eliminates the need for special rule changes for individual assets, facilitating the listing process for qualifying products.

Nevertheless, from trust registration to final ETF approval and trading listing, several months or longer will be required, and the outcome remains uncertain.

For ordinary investors, while anticipating the convenience of investing in BNB through traditional stock accounts, directly holding spot BNB on compliant trading platforms like Gate remains the primary way to participate in its ecosystem development.

Future Outlook

Once Grayscale’s ETF application is successful, it will bring BNB directly to the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange. On the Gate platform, BNB’s price remained stable following the announcement, with trading volume reaching $6 million in 24 hours.

The BNB Chain ecosystem is evolving toward achieving technical targets of sub-second confirmation speed and tens of thousands of TPS. This potential ETF acts like a conduit, channeling massive Wall Street capital into this ever-expanding crypto universe.