Cboe Publishes Amended Spot Ether ETF Filings as Industry Renews Approval Hopes

Things appear to be moving ahead of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) decision to potentially approve an important filing related to the launch of a spot ether (ETH) exchange-traded fund (ETF).
Cboe, an exchange associated with five of the issuers of a potential spot ether exchange-traded fund (ETF), published its amended 19b-4 filings in response to feedback from regulators. The applicants include Fidelity, VanEck, Invesco/Galaxy, Ark/21Shares and Franklin Templeton.
Exchanges supporting various applicants filed revised forms with the SEC earlier on Tuesday, two individuals familiar with the situation told CoinDesk.
Officials with the SEC asked exchanges to refile using universal comments – where they all use the same wording – one individual told CoinDesk.
Several people told CoinDesk across Monday and Tuesday that SEC officials haven’t explicitly said they were approving the applications, but that the feedback was still significant. A final approval on the applications is still not guaranteed, but the agency asking for revisions on the 19b-4 forms suggests progress is being made. One of the individuals told CoinDesk they expect multiple approvals this week.
While the 19b-4 forms might be approved as soon as this Thursday – when the first one, an application by VanEck and Cboe, faces a final deadline – the spot ether ETFs can’t launch until the SEC also approves the S-1 forms filed by the issuers themselves. There appears to be less movement on this front than with the 19b-4 filings. A few applicants have already begun revising their S-1 forms, however.
It appears that the SEC won’t allow issuers to stake the potential ETFs, which several applicants, including Grayscale and Fidelity, hoped to do. Both asset managers on Tuesday filed an amended S-1 registration statement removing staking from their documents.
Ether’s price traded around $3,790 as of press time according to CoinGecko, up 3.8% over the last 24 hours and maintaining a $600 jump from its price on Monday before optimism for an ETF approval first resurfaced.
Disclosure
Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. In November 2023, CoinDesk was acquired by the Bullish group, owner of Bullish, a regulated, digital assets exchange. The Bullish group is majority-owned by Block.one; both companies have interests in a variety of blockchain and digital asset businesses and significant holdings of digital assets, including bitcoin. CoinDesk operates as an independent subsidiary with an editorial committee to protect journalistic independence. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive options in the Bullish group as part of their compensation.
Helene is a New York-based reporter covering Wall Street, the rise of the spot bitcoin ETFs and crypto exchanges. She is also the co-host of CoinDesk’s Markets Daily show. Helene is a graduate of New York University’s business and economic reporting program and has appeared on CBS News, YahooFinance and Nasdaq TradeTalks. She holds BTC and ETH.
Nikhilesh De is CoinDesk’s managing editor for global policy and regulation. He owns marginal amounts of bitcoin and ether.
Learn more about Consensus 2024, CoinDesk’s longest-running and most influential event that brings together all sides of crypto, blockchain and Web3. Head to consensus.coindesk.com to register and buy your pass now.