Proposed 90% Staking of Assets in Canary’s INJ Fund on Nasdaq
Key Facts
Canary Capital filed the fourth amendment to the registration statement for the Canary Staked INJ ETF with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on October 23, 2026, proposing to list its shares on Nasdaq under the ticker INJC. The fund seeks to provide exposure to the price of the INJ it holds, less operating expenses and liabilities, with a secondary objective of earning more INJ through staking. The prospectus says the sponsor expects to stake at least 90% of the fund’s holdings under normal circumstances. That remains a proposal at the registration stage; the preliminary prospectus states that shares may not be sold before the registration statement becomes effective with the SEC. The proposed listing is also subject to an issuance notice.
The stated staking ratio does not mean all assets will remain locked at all times, as the sponsor retains a margin to handle redemptions and expenses and protect assets. Staking will be managed by the sponsor through service providers, according to the prospectus. The annual sponsor fee is 1.10% of the fund’s INJ holdings. In addition to that fee, the fund expects to pay total staking fees equal to 30% of staking rewards. The prospectus says the fund will therefore retain 70% of the rewards generated, making net yield dependent on rewards after staking fees, as well as the sponsor fee and operating expenses.
The Injective Foundation indicated its intention to purchase up to $15,000,000 worth of shares at $25.00 per share. The prospectus does not describe this as a completed purchase, but reports the foundation’s intention as stated in the registration document. The purchase is expected to be funded in kind with INJ, based on the token’s reference price on the purchase date. Under the offering terms set out in the prospectus, this arrangement would link the seed contribution to a holding of the token itself rather than a dollar payment. The fund also entered into agreements with Jane Street, Cumberland, Flowdesk, Crypto.com, Wincent and BitGo as counterparties for INJ trading.
The staking mechanism imposes a time constraint on some assets: after undelegation, INJ tokens enter a 21-day unbonding period. During that time, the tokens are locked, cannot be transferred and do not earn staking rewards. The Injective Foundation says the fund intends to keep part of its holdings unstaked to support the creation and redemption of shares, noting that unstaking assets takes 21 days. The foundation also describes rewards as variable and not guaranteed, affected by network conditions and validator performance. The registration statement adds that staking carries the possibility of losing INJ, and that assets, including staked assets, are not protected by coverage for depositors at institutions insured by the FDIC or members of the SIPC.
The filing follows a regulatory process that began when Canary submitted an initial Form S-1 registration statement on July 17, 2025. On August 11 of that year, Cboe BZX Exchange proposed a rule change to list and trade the fund’s shares. The SEC instituted proceedings on November 19, 2025, to consider approving or rejecting the proposal, saying that opening proceedings did not mean it had reached any conclusions on the issues involved. The SEC’s proceedings page shows that the earlier process was withdrawn on March 9, 2026. The registration amendment filed in October remains subject to the registration statement becoming effective, a process separate from the record of the earlier exchange rule proposal.
On network economics, Injective said in January 2026 that the community had approved a proposal aimed at doubling the rate at which INJ supply is reduced, an increase of 100%. It said the monthly Community BuyBack initiative launched in October 2024 and that tokens purchased through it are permanently burned. According to a foundation post on January 20, 2026, more than 6.87 million INJ had been removed from circulation through the mechanism. This is background on the network’s supply mechanisms, while rewards for the proposed fund remain subject to staking fees and changes in network conditions and validator performance. The foundation said net rewards would be added daily to the fund’s net asset value and restaked, rather than distributed in cash to shareholders.
The fund had not begun operations or investment activities, or issued shares, as of October 1, 2026, according to the prospectus. Share sales remain prohibited until the registration statement becomes effective with the SEC, while trading on Nasdaq under the ticker INJC is expected to be subject to an issuance notice. In the token market, INJ closed at $6.985 on October 30, compared with a close of $7.337 on October 29. The Investing.com series showed a close of $7.790 on October 23, after $7.912 on October 22. The series recorded a daily decline of 8.16% on October 22 and 1.54% on October 23, while daily closing data alone does not establish a link between those moves and the registration filing.