The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has greenlit Form 19b-4 for eight Ethereum ETF issuers, including VanEck, BlackRock, Fidelity, Grayscale, Bitwise, Ark, Invesco Galaxy, and Franklin Templeton. This approval moves the launch of these Ethereum ETFs one step closer.
VanEck’s spot Ethereum ETF was listed on the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) website on 21 May, signaling progress but not immediate trading. Approval of the S-1 documents submitted by the issuers is still pending, which could delay trading by several weeks or months.
Matthew Sigel, VanEck’s head of digital asset research, highlights that the SEC’s approval of their exchange partner CBOE’s rule change is significant. It acknowledges Ethereum as a decentralised commodity rather than a security, satisfying the SEC’s market surveillance requirements due to the high correlation between ETH spot prices and CME Ethereum futures prices.
Despite the progress, the full trading approval for Ethereum ETFs remains pending, and analysts predict the process could take weeks or even months. This step towards integrating Ethereum into mainstream finance shows promise, with eight major players now poised to enter the market.
