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SEC Officially Approves Spot Ethereum ETFs
Ethereum ETFs
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SEC Officially Approves Spot Ethereum ETFs

2024-05-24 by Ndaman Olayinka 4 minutes read
SEC Officially Approves Spot Ethereum ETFs

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday approved the first batch of spot Ethereum (ETH) exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

The SEC's Division of Trading and Markets approved eight 19b-4 forms for the ETFs from BlackRock, Fidelity, Grayscale, Bitwise, VanEck, Ark 21 Shares, Invesco Galaxy, and Franklin Templeton after asking exchanges to submit their updated filings on Monday. 

This last-minute approval is coming after several weeks of silence towards issuers, which made it seem like the SEC was not going to approve the Ethereum ETFs. Many anticipated that the SEC would also approve applications for spot ETH ETFs after the agency approved spot Bitcoin ETFs in January. Nevertheless, it is said that the SEC repeatedly delayed applications because it would not engage with issuers. The SEC's silence on spot ETH ETF approval gave rise to speculation, unlike its approach with spot Bitcoin ETFs, where it maintained constant communication with issuers. Consequently, the ETFs' approval odds were tagged at 25% by Bloomberg analysts Eric Balchunas and James Seyffart.

Prior to the ETFs' official launch, the SEC would also need to approve S-1s applications, which could take a few weeks. James Seyffart said, “To be clear, this does not imply that trading will start tomorrow. It's only a 19b-4 approval. The S-1 documents must also be approved, which will take some time. It may take longer than the few weeks we're anticipating. I should find out more in about a week."

He added, "This procedure usually takes several months. In certain cases, this can take up to five months, but Eric Balchunas and I believe it will happen at least a little faster. Bitcoin ETFs lasted for at least ninety days.”

Investors will be able to directly invest in Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, through the recently approved spot Ethereum ETFs, eliminating the need for them to buy and store the digital asset themselves. Following the Securities and Exchange Commission's announcement that allowed the first US exchange-traded funds to invest directly in Ethereum tokens, the cryptocurrency industry and community might be getting closer to yet another significant milestone.

Disclaimer: This information should not be considered financial advice by any means. Please do your own research before making any investment decisions. The views in the articles are personal opinions only. Whale Insider is not responsible for any financial losses incurred.