VanEck was quick to respond to Ark Invest’s spot Ethereum ETF application yesterday by submitting its own application to the SEC in the same breath. According to many analysts, we can expect a wave of applications for spot Ethereum ETFs, just as we saw for spot Bitcoin ETFs after the first application initiated by BlackRock.
The start of the Ethereum ETF wave?
ETFs, or exchange-traded funds, have been in the news ever since the world’s largest hedge fund, BlackRock, filed its application for a Bitcoin cash ETF with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in June.
In the wake of this, many of the world’s leading exchange-traded firms have issued their own applications, including Bitwise, WisdomTree, Invesco & Galaxy, Fidelity and Valkyrie.
But this time, it’s not a question of spot BTC ETFs, but of Ethereum ETHs: Ark Invest, Catie Wood’s company, launched the race for spot Ethereum ETFs yesterday, in an application filed with the SEC alongside 21Shares.
And it didn’t take long for VanEck, a company specialising in ETFs, to file its own application for a spot Ethereum ETF in the same breath. Not without a touch of sarcasm, VanEck pointed out on X (formerly Twitter) that they were the first to express interest in an ETF of this kind:
Late to the party? We filed our S-1 foraSpot Ether ETF back on 5/7/2021. https://t.co/hYE6TG90Q3
– VanEck (@vaneck_us) September 6, 2023
“Late to the party? We filed our S-1 for a Spot Ether ETF on 7/05/2021. “
The “S-1” referred to by VanEck is a type of form that expands on the characteristics of an ETF so as to present it without actually formalizing the application with the SEC.
So, just as Ark Invest did yesterday, this time VanEck has made its application official via a Form 19b-4, which in turn triggers the SEC’s famous timetable, as Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart explained:
BOOM: 19b-4 filing from @vaneck_us AND @ARKInvest/@21co__ for spot Ethereum ETFs.
This is different from the earlier Ark/21shares S-1 filing because this will ultimately start that clock we are so used to following with spot Bitcoin filings. pic.twitter.com/qP7nydc33w
– James Seyffart (@JSeyff) September 6, 2023
So, according to Seyffart, we can expect a flood of Ethereum cash ETF applications in the coming days, just as we saw when BlackRock filed its Bitcoin ETF application.
How long before we see a 19b-4 from @Grayscale to convert $ETHE into an ETF? https://t.co/078sm9FNlF pic.twitter.com/pzSEcMrtZB
– James Seyffart (@JSeyff) September 6, 2023
The reason for this is simple: all ETF applications face the same validation or rejection deadline. In other words, the first to apply will be the first to receive a response from the SEC, and therefore the first to be able to place their ETF on the dedicated exchange.
Last month, the SEC breathed a breath of hope into the ecosystem when it said it was prepared to accept certain applications for Ethereum Futures ETFs, although no timetable was given at the time.
