Asset management companies VanEck and 21Shares have made changes to their S-1 registrations with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in order to list and trade shares of a spot Ether (ETH) exchange-traded fund, or ETF.
VanEck amended its Form S-1 registration statement on July 8 as part of their efforts to obtain final approval from the SEC for their Ethereum ETF. 21Shares also filed a similar amended form for their Core Ethereum ETF. While neither filing provided a specific launch date on U.S. exchanges, they stated that it would occur “as soon as practicable after the effective date” of the registration.
The amended filings mark the final stage of approvals required by the SEC before asset management firms can list shares of spot Ether ETFs. Bitwise filed their own amended registration on July 3, and industry experts predict that other companies will follow suit within the next week.
Regarding the approval of spot Ether ETFs, the SEC had approved 19b-4 filings from eight asset managers, including VanEck, 21Shares, and Bitwise, on May 23. Experts have suggested that final approvals could be granted in July. During a June Senate Banking Committee hearing, SEC Chair Gary Gensler stated that the commission could approve the S-1s “sometime over the course of this summer,” but did not provide a specific date.
VanEck initiated their application for a spot Ether ETF in January after the SEC approved the listing and trading of spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETF shares. The approval process may have been delayed due to reports of the SEC considering whether to classify ETH as a security. However, in June, Consensys’ legal team reported that the commission had dropped the matter.
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