Asset management companies VanEck and 21Shares have amended their S-1 registrations with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to list and trade shares of a spot Ether (ETH) exchange-traded fund, or ETF.
In July 8 filings, VanEck amended its Form S-1 registration statement as part of the firm’s efforts to get final approval from the SEC for its Ethereum ETF. 21Shares filed a similar amended form for its Core Ethereum ETF. Neither filing included a specific launch date on U.S. exchanges but said it would be “as soon as practicable after the effective date” of the registration.
The amended filings are part of the last stage of approvals required by the SEC before asset management firms can list shares of spot Ether ETFs. Bitwise filed its own amended registration on July 3, and experts predict that other companies will follow in the next seven days.
Wen ETF?
On May 23, the SEC approved spot Ether ETF 19b-4 filings from eight asset managers — including VanEck, 21Shares, and Bitwise — with experts suggesting that final approvals could come in July. SEC Chair Gary Gensler said in a June Senate Banking Committee hearing that the commission could approve the S-1s “sometime over the course of this summer” but did not provide a specific date.
VanEck filed its 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 slowed amid reports the SEC was investigating whether to treat ETH as a security. Consensys’ legal team reported in June that the commission had dropped the matter.