Canary files S-1 for PEPE ETF as memecoin funds expand beyond DOGE

Canary Capital has filed a registration statement for the Canary PEPE ETF, a proposed exchange traded fund designed to give investors direct exposure to PEPE through a traditional brokerage account.

The filing, submitted April 8, says the trust would hold spot PEPE, calculate net asset value using a pricing benchmark built from major PEPE trading venues, and issue shares in 10,000 share baskets.   

The prospectus frames PEPE as a highly speculative asset whose value is driven mainly by online popularity, cultural relevance, and social sentiment rather than clear blockchain utility. It says PEPE is an ERC-20 token launched on Ethereum in April 2023, and notes that the trust may hold up to 5% of assets in ETH at first to cover network transaction fees tied to PEPE transfers.

Canary’s structure mirrors the now familiar spot crypto ETF template. The fund would hold the underlying token directly, avoid derivatives and leverage, and use a custodian to safeguard the assets, while warning that investors could lose their entire investment.

The filing also stresses that PEPE spot markets are relatively new and largely unregulated, leaving the product exposed to volatility, manipulation concerns, custody risks, and Ethereum network disruptions.     

What makes the filing notable is that meme coin ETFs are no longer theoretical. Grayscale’s Dogecoin product is already live in the US market. A March 2026 prospectus supplement and annual report show the Grayscale Dogecoin Trust ETF trades under the ticker GDOG on NYSE Arca, with the shares listed on November 24, 2025.

BONK has also already entered the filing pipeline, though through a different structure. Tuttle Capital filed for a Tuttle Capital Bonk Income Blast ETF in September 2025, and separate SEC filings show a Tuttle Capital 2X Long Bonk Daily Target ETF was also included in its earlier leveraged crypto ETF registration set.

Tuttle also sought approval for multiple leveraged crypto ETFs tied to tokens including TRUMP and MELANIA, part of a broader rush to test just how far crypto ETF wrappers could be pushed.