Investment manager Hashdex has decided to withdraw its application for a spot Ether exchange-traded fund (ETF), as stated in documents submitted to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
According to a filing on May 28, Hashdex pulled its application for the Hashdex Nasdaq Ethereum ETF, which would have required a rule change for its debut. The proposal was taken down on May 24, just one day after the approval of eight similar financial products by the financial watchdog.
At this time, there is no information regarding the reasons behind Hashdex’s withdrawal or whether the company plans to resubmit its proposal. Cointelegraph reached out to Hashdex for comment but did not receive an immediate response.
A source familiar with the application informed Cointelegraph that Hashdex no longer intends to pursue a single asset Ether ETF.
On May 23, the SEC approved the 19b-4 filings from VanEck, BlackRock, Fidelity, Grayscale, Franklin Templeton, ARK 21Shares, Invesco Galaxy, and Bitwise, paving the way for spot Ether (ETH) ETFs to be listed and traded on their respective exchanges. These funds are expected to launch in June.
Unlike other applicants, Hashdex’s application for a spot Ether ETF included both spot Ether holdings and Ether futures contracts in the same product, aiming to mitigate potential manipulation.
Other applicants, such as Fidelity, ARK 21Shares, and Franklin Templeton, focused on purely spot-based Ether ETFs and made late amendments to their filings, such as removing support for ETH staking in response to SEC feedback.
Additionally, Hashdex’s ETF aimed to mirror the daily fluctuations of the Nasdaq Ether Reference Price to address regulatory concerns about market manipulation. This approach was outlined in their initial filing from September 2023.
Hashdex is one of the issuers of spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs approved in January. The company’s BTC fund utilized a different strategy compared to other asset managers. For instance, Hashdex’s Bitcoin ETF did not rely on the Coinbase surveillance sharing agreement. Instead, it sourced spot BTC from physical exchanges within the CME market.
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