SEC’s Spot Ether ETF Approval Might Be Coming in a Week: Report

The final approval for the trading of spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) could come as soon as July 4, Reuters reported, citing “industry executives and other participants.”

Although the SEC has yet to confirm anything officially, its talks with asset managers on the spot Ether ETF have been said to have entered the final stage. Eight asset managers, including BlackRock, VanEck, Franklin Templeton, and Grayscale Investments, seek approval to launch spot Ether ETFs.

enter the ether 🫴 pic.twitter.com/YXgKQFP5Nr

— VanEck (@vaneck_us) May 23, 2024

Spot Ether ETF Is Coming to the US

Last month, the US agency already approved the listing of spot Ether ETFs on three American stock exchanges, Nasdaq, CBOE, and NYSE. Then, the approval only came for the 19b-4 forms tied to the Ether ETFs for introducing new products or amending existing rules.

Now, the SEC must greenlight the S-1 forms filed by prospective issuers of the instruments. These forms contain detailed information about new securities to be offered to the public, including the fund’s structure, management, and investment strategy, along with details on the methods of tracking the performance of the underlying assets.

The SEC must approve both 19b-4 and S-1 forms for the Ether ETF to be publicly available for trading.

Last Minute Fixes

The latest report outlined anonymous executives from two firms who confirmed that the process of amending the S-1 forms has commenced to address some “minor” issues. Further, an anonymous lawyer working on one of these issues also told the publication that it was "down to the finishing touches" and that approval is "probably not more than a week or two away."

The SEC approved the Bitcoin ETF in January, ending a decade-long wait for many companies. The new spot Bitcoin ETFs were a hit, adding nearly $38 billion in assets. However, Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, which converted its $27 billion trust fund to an ETF, witnessed $17.8 billion in net outflows.

If approved, Grayscale will convert its Ether trust fund into an ETF again.

Interestingly, the prospective issuers of Ether ETF had already dropped the provisions of “staking” from their S-1 filing earlier to prevent any negative regulatory attention. Recently, VanEck reportedly set a 0.2 percent fee for its proposed spot Ether ETF.