21Shares Launches First US Spot Polkadot ETF on Nasdaq

• 21Shares listed the TDOT ETF on Nasdaq with a physically backed structure holding actual DOT tokens.
• The ETF launched with about $11 million in seed capital and charges a 0.30% management fee, according to Eric Balchunas.
• Polkadot plans a March update capping DOT supply at 2.1B tokens while reducing emissions by 53.6%.

Asset manager 21Shares launched the first U.S. spot Polkadot exchange-traded fund on March 7, listing it on Nasdaq under the ticker TDOT. The fund gives investors regulated exposure to the DOT token through brokerage accounts. The listing arrived as issuers expand crypto ETFs beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum.

ETF Structure and Market Listing Details

The new product tracks the price of DOT, the native token of the Polkadot network. Notably, the fund uses a physically backed structure. That means the issuer holds actual DOT tokens as the ETF’s primary asset.

As a result, investors gain price exposure without holding the token directly. The fund charges a management fee of 0.30%. According to Eric Balchunas, the ETF launched with approximately $11 million in seed capital.

TDOT now trades on Nasdaq and is available through select brokerage platforms. Investors therefore access the asset without managing wallets or private keys. The listing also adds another altcoin product to 21Shares’ expanding exchange-traded fund lineup.

Polkadot Network Design and Ecosystem Activity

Meanwhile, the ETF focuses on the Polkadot network’s underlying technology. The protocol connects independent blockchains within a single interoperable environment. Developers can deploy customized blockchains using the Substrate framework, also known as the Polkadot software development kit.

More than 150 projects currently build within that ecosystem. Additionally, Polkadot uses shared security infrastructure across connected chains. The design supports parallel processing of transactions.

According to 21Shares, the network reached a theoretical capacity of 630,000 transactions per second during 2024 testing. Projects operating on the platform rent blockspace with DOT tokens. As a result, network usage creates direct economic demand for the token.

Token Update Scheduled for March

At the same time, the Polkadot ecosystem is preparing a token update scheduled for March 12. The network plans to cap total DOT supply at 2.1 billion tokens. It also intends to reduce emissions by 53.6% at launch.

Polkadot will replace treasury burns with a Dynamic Allocation Pool. The pool will receive revenue from fees, slashing penalties, and core time sales. Governance participants will then allocate those funds to network initiatives. Meanwhile, staking rules will also change under the new structure.

Validators will need to self-stake 10,000 DOT, while minimum commissions will increase to 10%. However, nominators will become unslashable under the update. The network will also shorten the unbonding period from 28 days to between 24 and 48 hours.