Per the S-1 filing submitted to the SEC, the iShares Ethereum Trust is designed to reflect the performance of the Ethereum.
BlackRock Inc (NYSE: BLK), a top investment asset management firm, has filed for a spot Ethereum Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This comes only a week after it registered the ETF dubbed iShares Ethereum Trust with Delaware’s Division of Corporations, and almost six months after filing for Bitcoin equivalent, the iShares Bitcoin Trust.
Notably, the iShares brand is associated with all of BlackRock’s ETF products.
Ethereum Spot ETF: BlackRock Takes First Step
Per the S-1 filing submitted to the SEC, the iShares Ethereum Trust is designed to reflect the performance of the Ethereum. American cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global Inc (NASDAQ: COIN) is the appointed custodian for the underlying assets. The filing for Form S-1 is one of the two-step processes involved in the application for spot ETF.
For any ETF application to be successful, the applicant or potential ETF issuer is required to get the approval of the U.S. SEC from the Trading and Markets division on its 19b-4 filing and the Corporate Finance division on its S-1 filing or prospectus.
In June, BlackRock started a “movement” with its filing for spot Bitcoin ETF submitted to the US regulator. Owing to its reputation and status in the traditional financial sector, many other institutional investors perceived the move as a renewal of hope. For many years, the SEC has not greenlighted any spot Bitcoin ETFs as it constantly cited susceptibility to market manipulation, fraud, and many other reasons as its excuse.
BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF move spurred many top firms to equally submit their application, indicating a growing interest among traditional investors in the burgeoning crypto sector. It was only a matter of time before Fidelity Investments, WisdomTree, Invesco and Galaxy Digital, Valkyrie, VanEck, and Bitwise all joined in the race for the Bitcoin ETF offering.
A Move Towards Spot ETF Offerings
While the applicants await the SEC’s decision on their spot Bitcoin ETF applications, some of them have pivoted to spot Ethereum ETF. The recent court decision on Grayscale’s lawsuit with the SEC played a crucial role in the sudden rush toward Ethereum spot ETF.
For context, the regulator acknowledged Grayscale’s application to convert its Ethereum Trust to a physically-backed ETF, beginning a journey where some difference might be made
Some crypto proponents and experts have voiced their optimism toward a potential approval from the SEC. Eric Balchunas and James Seyffart, two Bloomberg ETF analysts, say that the odds of obtaining a spot Bitcoin ETF approval from the SEC are now at 90% after initially pegging it at 65%. Galaxy Digital founder Mike Novogratz also agreed that a spot Bitcoin ETF approval is imminent and when it eventually comes, he sees the possibility that it would drive the price of Bitcoin up by 74%.
ARK Invest and 21Shares have also filed to list a spot Ethereum ETF in September. According to ARK Invest, the ETF would custody the assets with Coinbase Custody Trust Company. The trust sponsored by 21Shares has Delaware Trust Company as its trustee.
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