What Still Needs to Happen Before Spot Ether ETFs Can Trade

There’s
a
lot
of
excitement
over
the
possibility
that
a
spot
ether
exchange-traded
fund
(ETF)
may
be
around
the
corner.
Here’s
what
still
needs
to
happen
before
one
may
launch.

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The
U.S.
Securities
and
Exchange
Commission
(SEC)
seems
poised
to
approve
spot
ether
exchange-traded
funds
(ETFs),
and
they
could
begin
trading
as
soon
as
this
week
–
though
there’s
still
a
bit
of
work
left
to
be
done.

The
crypto
industry
has
pushed
for
spot
ether

(ETH)
ETFs
for
years,
nearly
as
long
as
it’s
pushed
for
spot
bitcoin

(BTC)
ETFs.
The
SEC
approved
the
bitcoin
products
in
January
after
a
decade
of
rejections,
but
did
not
seem
ready
to
approve
the
ether
counterparts
until
May.
As
with
the
spot
bitcoin
ETFs,
advocates
for
spot
ether
ETFs
argue
they’ll
create
a
safe
and
regulated
investment
vehicle
that
will
grant
the
general
public
exposure
to
the
second-largest
cryptocurrency
by
market
cap
without
requiring
them
to
invest
in
it
directly.

A
handful
of
would-be
issuers
filed
amended
S-1
forms
on
Friday
and
Monday,
suggesting
progress
is
being
made.
Notably,
the
filings
did
not
contain
fee
information,
so
there’s
likely
to
be
at
least
one
more
round
of
comments
from
SEC
staff
before
trading
can
begin.
Invesco
and
Galaxy
published
a
fee
–
0.25%
–
on
Tuesday.
VanEck
was
the
only
would-be
issuer
to
publish
a
fee
prior
to
the
latest
round
of
updates.

To
be
clear,
there’s
no
firm
timeline
for
approval.
Unlike
the
19b-4
filings
the
SEC
approved
in
may,
there’s
no
imminent
final
deadline
the
agency
must
meet
for
a
final
decision,
and
so
the
back-and-forth
between
regulators
and
issuers
could
wrap
up
as
soon
as
Friday
or
take
a
few
weeks
still.
One
individual
familiar
with
the
process
told
CoinDesk
they
expected
the
dialogue
to
continue
for
a
few
weeks.

The
filings
also
do
not
detail
expense
ratios.
If
amended
filings
include
those
key
details,
that
may
signal
they
are
the
final
set
of
amendments.

Should
the
SEC
provide
feedback
by
the
end
of
the
day
Tuesday,
it’s
entirely
plausible
the
issuers
will
file
a
final
set
of
amended
forms
by
Wednesday.
They
would
have
to
include
fee
information
and
any
other
details
required
by
the
regulator.
For
the
spot
bitcoin
ETFs,
it
took
the
SEC
two
days
to
send
out
the
final
approvals
after
issuers
had
submitted
fees.
If
that
holds
this
time
round,
provided
issuers
submit
their
fees
by
Wednesday,
it
is
possible
that
an
approval
could
be
in
by
Friday.

The
products
could
begin
trading
relatively
quickly
afterward.

Hours
before
the
spot
bitcoin
ETFs
were
approved
by
the
SEC
in
January,
one
of
the
listing
exchanges,
Cboe,
added
the
funds
to
its
“New
Listings”
page,
saying
that
was
“standard
procedure”
before
the
approval
of
a
new
ETF.
If
so,
given
that
five
of
the
potential
ether
ETFs
will
be
listed
on
Cboe,
we
may
well
see
a
similar
situation
happening
on
the
day
that
these
ETFs
receive
approval.

If
you’ve
got
thoughts
or
questions
on
what
I
should
discuss
next
week
or
any
other
feedback
you’d
like
to
share,
feel
free
to
email
me
at

nik@coindesk.com
or
find
me
on
Twitter

@nikhileshde.

You
can
also
join
the
group
conversation
on

Telegram.

See
ya’ll
next
week!