SEC Filing Document

Company: T. Rowe Price Active Crypto ETF
Ticker: 
CIK: 2089855
Filing Type: S-1
Document Type: S-1
Date Filed: 2025-10-22
Accession Number: 0001999371-25-015832
Exchange: 
SIC Code: 6221
SIC Description: Commodity Contracts Brokers & Dealers
URL: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/2089855/000199937125015832/activecrypto-s1_102225.htm

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more diverse list of clients. In October 2025, about 44% of Ethereum nodes run the geth client, 18% the nethermind client, 18% of the go-ethereum client, and the remaining are split among other clients. Core developers of Ethereum clients are able to access, and can alter, the client’s source code and, as a result, they are responsible for official releases of updates and other changes to Ethereum Clients. Since the Merge, Ethereum experienced the successful activation of two other upgrades. First, the Shapella upgrade, activated in April 2023, which enabled ether withdrawals for validators participating in the network’s consensus layer. Second, the Dencun upgrade, activated in March 2024, which introduced proto-danksharding (or EIP-4844), a new technology that reduces the costs for second layer solutions known as rollups to post data on Ethereum and thus significantly decreases transaction fees paid by users using these upper layers to access the Ethereum ecosystem.

Particularly, following
the Dencun upgrade, most second layers that had properly prepared for the activation of EIP-4844 experienced, as expected, reduced
transaction fees when batching transactions to the main Ethereum Network. In turn, the upgrade lowered the transaction costs for
executing transactions on such networks and significantly reduced activity on Ethereum’s base layer. However, some second
layer solutions reportedly experienced outages and other disruptions in the aftermath of the upgrade, which in the case of
“Blast,” one of Ethereum’s rollups, led to a halt in block production for a period of time. Blast normal operation
was reportedly restored afterward. As with any change to open-source software code and client overhaul, planned forks such as the
ones activated since the Merge could introduce bugs, coding defects, unanticipated or undiscovered problems, flaws, security risks,
problematic incentive structures, or otherwise fail to work as intended or achieve the expected benefits that proponents hope for in
the short term or the long term.

Because Ethereum has no central authority,
the release of updates to Ethereum Clients by their developers does not guarantee that the updates will be automatically adopted by the
other network participants. Users and validators must accept any changes made to the source code by downloading the proposed modification
and that modification is effective only with respect to those Ethereum users and validators who choose to download and run it. As a practical
matter, a modification to the source code becomes part of the Ethereum Network only if it is accepted by individuals that collectively
have a majority of the Ethereum Network. If a modification is accepted by only a percentage of users and validators, a division will occur
such that one network will run the pre-modification source code and the other network will run the modified source code.

As a continuation to the Ethereum 2.0
transition, Ethereum underwent a third upgrade called Pectra, which was activated in May 2025. Pectra activated a number of EIPs, including:

•	Staker Flexibility: Validators can now accumulate — holding balances from 32 to 2048 ETH and earning
compounding rewards. The prior distributing validator model (which sends rewards above 32 ETH to a withdrawal address) remains supported.

•	User Experience Enhancements: Self-custodied wallets can now delegate to smart contracts, enabling new
functionality such as sponsorship.

Ethereum
wallets and transactions

Similar to the Bitcoin System, users
of the Ethereum Network must either run an Ethereum Client or use an Ethereum wallet. To initiate an Ethereum transaction, users generate
a pair of private and public keys, the latter being used to receive funds, and the former to authenticate transactions, send funds and
interact with DApps on the platform. The same careful management of private keys must be carried out in the case of Ethereum, allowing
a user to securely custody ether and other crypto assets living on the Ethereum Network. Nonetheless, in contrast to Bitcoin, where multiple
private-public key pairs can be derived from a single seed phrase, Ethereum operates on an account-based model. This means that instead
of tracking multiple individual key pairs, a single account is used to manage the balance of ether and crypto assets. Each account has
an associated public address and private key, and the entire balance is tied to the account rather than to individual key pairs. To execute
any transaction on Ethereum, including sending ether and other crypto assets, and interacting with DApps, a user must hold enough ether
on its balance to pay for the gas costs of the corresponding code execution.

Ether
Markets

The Ethereum market includes a wide
array of participants in the investment, retail, and service sectors. The investment sector, similar to bitcoin, includes both private
and professional investors who trade ether for speculative purposes. The retail sector involves users who buy ether to transfer it or
to pay for transaction fees when transferring other crypto assets and interacting with DApps on the Ethereum Network. Retail users can
also buy ether to pay for goods and services, though its adoption as a payment method is still in its infancy. The service sector, on
the other hand, is expanding rapidly, with companies like Coinbase, Kraken, and Gemini providing essential services such as trading, payment
processing, custodial solutions and staking. As Ethereum continues to evolve, the service sector is expected to grow, offering more sophisticated
and varied services to accommodate the network’s increasing user base and its unique functionalities like smart contracts.

In addition to using ether to engage
in transactions, investors may purchase and sell ether to speculate as to the value of ether in the market, or as a long-term investment
to diversify their portfolio. The value of ether within the market is determined, in part, by the supply of and demand for ether in the
global ether market, market expectations for the adoption of ether as a store of value, the number of merchants that accept ether as a
form of payment, and the volume of peer-to-peer transactions, among other factors.

Centralized spot ether
markets typically permit investors to open accounts with the trading platform and then purchase and sell ether via websites or
through mobile applications. Prices for trades on centralized spot ether markets are typically reported publicly. An investor
opening a trading account must deposit an accepted government-issued currency into their account with the spot market, or a
previously acquired crypto asset, before they can purchase or sell assets on the spot market. The process of establishing an account
with a centralized ether market and trading ether is different from, and should not be confused with, the process of users sending
ether from one Ethereum address to another Ethereum address on the Ethereum Blockchain or decentralized on-chain trading platforms.
This latter process is an activity that occurs on the Ethereum Network, while the former is an activity that occurs entirely within
the order book operated by the centralized spot market. The centralized spot market typically records the investor’s ownership
of ether in its internal books and records, rather than on the Ethereum Blockchain. The centralized spot market ordinarily does not
transfer ether to the investor on the Ethereum Blockchain unless the investor makes a request to the crypto asset trading platform
to withdraw the ether in their account to an off-exchange ether wallet.

Outside of the spot markets, ether
can be traded OTC. The OTC market is largely institutional in nature, and OTC market participants generally consist of institutional entities,
such as firms that offer ether-sided liquidity for ether, investment managers, proprietary trading firms, high-net-worth individuals that
trade ether on a proprietary basis, entities with sizable ether holdings, and family offices. The OTC market provides a relatively flexible
market in terms of quotes, price, quantity, and other factors, although it tends to involve large blocks of Ether. The OTC market has
no formal structure and no open-outcry meeting place. Parties engaging in OTC transactions will agree upon a price — often via phone
or email — and then one of the two parties will initiate the transaction. For example, a seller of ether could initiate the transaction
by sending the ether to the buyer’s ether address. The buyer would then wire U.S. dollars to the seller’s bank account. OTC
trades are sometimes hedged and eventually settled with concomitant trades on ether spot markets.

In addition, ether futures and options
trading occur on exchanges in the U.S. regulated by the CFTC. The market for CFTC-regulated trading of ether derivatives has developed
substantially.

SOL (Solana Blockchain)

Solana is a smart contract platform
enabling the creation of DApps such as DeFi, digital collectibles, and blockchain games. Its system comprises the Solana Network, the
Solana Blockchain, the Solana Protocol and Solana Clients. SOL is the native crypto asset for the Solana system.