SEC Approves Amended Nasdaq Texas Listing Standards for Digital Commodity ETPs

The SEC approved a proposed rule change by Nasdaq Texas to amend its generic listing standards for commodity-based trust shares, allowing exchange-traded products holding digital commodities to include a limited buffer of non-conforming assets and permitting actively managed strategies.

In the approval order, the SEC found the changes to Nasdaq Texas Rule 5711(d) ("Commodity-Based Trust Shares") conform the exchange's rules to generic listing standards the Commission previously approved for Nasdaq, NYSE Arca, and Cboe BZX, and are consistent with Exchange Act Section 6(b)(5) ("National securities exchanges"). Nasdaq Texas said the amendments provide flexibility for product innovation while maintaining robust investor protections.

The amended rules allow up to 15 percent of a trust's net asset value to consist of digital commodities or securities that do not meet existing eligibility criteria, provided at least 85 percent of the holdings qualify under current standards or are cash and cash equivalents. Nasdaq Texas added a definition of "digital commodity," which the exchange said is informed by SEC and CFTC joint interpretive guidance that was effective March 23, 2026, to clarify which assets qualify for the buffer. Non-fungible assets and non-fungible collectibles are effectively excluded from the buffer, though the exchange may still submit an individual 19b-4 filing to list a trust holding commodities that fall outside the digital commodity definition.

The rule change removes the requirement that commodity-based trust shares be passively managed, permitting active management under the generic listing standards. To address risks associated with active management, Nasdaq Texas added new firewall and trading-halt provisions. The exchange must halt trading if portfolio information is not disseminated to all market participants simultaneously, and anyone with access to non-public portfolio information must be subject to procedures preventing its misuse.

In technical changes, the exchange renumbered subparagraphs (D) through (J) as (E) through (K) to accommodate the new digital commodity definition. It separately added a definition of "Reporting Authority" in connection with the new material non-public information provision for actively managed products.

The SEC approved the rule change on an accelerated basis in an order dated September 3, 2026, while soliciting comments, which are due by September 30, 2026.