The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the United States has recently included an application for a spot Ether (ETH) exchange-traded fund from asset manager ProShares, following the approval of eight similar investment vehicles just a few weeks ago.
In a filing dated June 10, the SEC announced that the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) Arca had put forward a rule change to enable the listing and trading of shares of the ProShares Ethereum ETF. The commission invited public comments on the ETF application for a period of 21 days after its publication in the Federal Register, providing the SEC with 45 days to make a decision on whether to approve, disapprove, or extend the timeline for further review.
On May 23, the SEC officially signed off on 19b-4 filings from eight asset management firms seeking to list and trade spot Ether ETFs on U.S. exchanges for the first time. The final approval will involve the SEC’s endorsement of S-1 registration statements for the spot Ether ETFs before they can commence trading, a process that may take several months but is anticipated to be completed sometime in July according to some experts.
ETF analyst James Seyffart expressed his view in a June 10 post that the ProShares ETF may not launch on the same day as the other ETFs, whenever that may be, but the outcome remains uncertain and intriguing.
In October 2023, ProShares became one of the initial asset managers to receive approval from the SEC to list and trade shares of a spot investment product linked to ETH futures. The company also offers a Bitcoin Strategy ETF on NYSE Arca under the ticker BITO.
It remains uncertain whether the SEC will grant approval for ProShares’ spot Ether ETF offering following the initial approval. The filing simply indicated that the commission would review the application.
In the midst of all this, the SEC is facing a formidable challenge from the legal firepower of the crypto world, akin to the legendary battle between Godzilla and Kong.