[DigitalToday reporter Yoonseo Lee] Asset manager Canary Capital has listed on Nasdaq a staking spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) holding Injective token INJ.

On Nov. 11 (local time), blockchain media outlet CoinPost reported the product is the Canary Staked INJ ETF, with ticker INJC. Canary Capital said it is the first staking spot INJ ETF in the United States.

The ETF tracks INJ’s spot price while using the fund’s INJ holdings for network validation to earn additional rewards. Staking rewards are reflected in net asset value (NAV) after fees are deducted and are then put back into staking.

The key is how it is managed. According to the company’s prospectus, the fund plans to allocate at least 90 percent of its INJ holdings to staking in general. The total annual fee is 1.10 percent. Of staking rewards, 30 percent is used for fees including those for the manager and custodian, while the remaining 70 percent stays with the fund. A BitGo-affiliated trust bank will hold the INJ.

The fee structure, however, requires caution. The prospectus estimated the annualised staking reward rate at about 6.8 percent based on network metrics as of Sept. 15, when about 47.2 percent of all INJ was staked. If that ratio approaches the network target of 60 percent, the reward rate could fall sharply.

The Injective Foundation is also participating in initial fundraising. The foundation said it intends to buy up to $15 million, based on $25 per share, as a seed investor. The foundation invested $225,000 in the manager for fund establishment costs.

According to The Block, Injective is a layer 1 blockchain that promotes trading and asset tokenisation as key uses, and INJ rose more than 5 percent on the listing day. The listing is seen as reflecting both demand for spot ETFs and expectations of staking income.

Canary Capital said the product shows investor interest broadening from top market-cap assets to specialised networks that handle on-chain financial infrastructure. Chief executive Steven McClurg (스티븐 맥클러그) said investor interest is spreading to specialised networks responsible for on-chain financial infrastructure. Eric Chen (에릭 첸), co-founder of the Injective Foundation, said investors can now access INJ through the brokerage accounts they normally use.

Competition among INJ-based ETFs is also continuing. 21Shares and REX-Osprey have also filed for related products. The two products are still under review. That makes Canary Capital the first to bring a product to market in the spot INJ ETF space as of the listing date.

The listing shows altcoin-based ETFs expanding beyond simple price tracking to combine staking returns. Actual investment appeal, however, is expected to vary depending not only on INJ’s price moves but also on the network’s staking ratio, changes in reward rates and the fee structure.