Here’s what happened in crypto today

Today in crypto, Canary Capital is seeking regulatory approval to list an exchange-traded fund backed by Pudgy Penguins’ governance token. Meanwhile, Coinbase has emerged as the largest node operator on the Ethereum network, and Solana Labs’ founder expressed regret for downplaying backlash over a controversial Solana ad mocking gender identity.

Canary files for PENGU ETF

Asset manager Canary Capital has filed to list an exchange-traded fund (ETF) holding Pengu (PENGU), the governance token of the Pudgy Penguins non-fungible token (NFT) project, US regulatory filings show.

The ETF is the latest in a slew of filings for new US investment products tied to spot cryptocurrencies, including altcoins and memecoins. 

According to the filing, the ETF is intended to hold spot PENGU as well as various Pudgy Penguins NFTs. It would be the first US ETF to hold NFTs if approved. 

Additionally, “[t]he Trust will also hold other digital assets, such as SOL and ETH, that are necessary or incidental to the purchase, sale and transfer of the Trust’s PENGU and Pudgy Penguins NFTs,” the filing said. 

Launched in December, PUDGY has a roughly $438 million market capitalization as of March 20, according to CoinGecko.

Coinbase becomes Ethereum’s largest node operator with 11% stake

Crypto exchange Coinbase is the largest node operator on the Ethereum network, controlling 11.42% of the total staked Ether, according to the company’s latest performance report.

Coinbase said it had 3.84 million Ether (ETH), worth about $6.8 billion, staked to its validators. The exchange said that, as of March 3, it has 11.42% of the total staked ETH.

Coinbase also shared that it exceeded its target for validator uptime, which indicates the percentage of time when validators are operational.

Solana CEO breaks silence over controversial ad backlash

Solana Labs CEO Anatoly Yakovenko has broken his silence over the “America Is Back — Time to Accelerate” advertisement, which blended American patriotism and tech innovation with political messaging around gender identity.

“The ad was bad, and it’s still gnawing at my soul,” Yakovenko said in a March 19 X post after receiving immense backlash over the controversial ad. 

“I am ashamed I downplayed it instead of just calling it what it is – mean and punching down on a marginalized group.”

Yakovenko praised those in the Solana ecosystem who called out the “mess” that was posted on Solana’s X account, which accumulated around 1.2 million views and 1,300 comments before it was deleted roughly nine hours later.

Yakovenko said he will use the learning experience to ensure Solana stays focused on open-source software development and decentralization while staying “out of cultural wars.”