SEC engages with Ethereum ETF issuers on S-1 forms

Fox
Business
journalist
Eleanor
Terrett
said
on
Thursday
that
the
US
Securities
and
Exchange
Commission
(SEC)
started
talks
with
Ethereum
exchange-traded
fund
(ETF)
issuers
regarding
their
S-1
registration
forms.
She
cited
sources
who
said
there
is
still
“work
to
do”
on
those
forms.

This
could
be
seen
as
a
positive
development,
but
it
suggests
there
might
have
been
a
previous
delay
in
communication.

🚨NEW:
Hearing
that
conversations
concerning
the
S-1’s
have
now
started
happening
between

@SECGov
staff
and
issuers
with
the
conclusion
being
that
there’s
“work
to
do”
on
those.

—
Eleanor
Terrett
(@EleanorTerrett)

May
22,
2024

In
a
separate
post,
Terrett
indicated
the
SEC
might
approve
the
19b-4
filings
today,
followed
by
collaboration
with
issuers
on
S-1
forms
in
the
coming
weeks
or
months.

Commenting
on
Terrett’s
post,
Bloomberg
ETF
analyst
James
Seyffart
said
with
significant
effort,
S-1
applications
for
spot
Ethereum
ETFs
could
be
resolved
within
a
few
weeks.
However,
he
noted
that
the
SEC
may
need
additional
time
to
complete
the
S-1
review
process.

“I
think
that
if
they
work
extremely
hard
it
can
be
done
within
a
couple
weeks
but
there
are
plenty
of
examples
of
this
process
taking
3+
months
historically,”
Seyffart
suggested.

Most
ETF
issuers,
including
major
players
like
Fidelity,
Bitwise,
Grayscale,
VanEck,
Ark
21Shares,
Franklin
Templeton,
and
Invesco,

submitted
their
amended
19b-4
filings
earlier
this
week.
Nasdaq
also

refiled
BlackRock’s
proposed
Ethereum
ETF
yesterday.

The
clock
ticks
down
as
the
market
braces
for
the
SEC’s
verdict
on
spot
Ethereum
funds.

Bloomberg
analyst
Eric
Balchunas
suggests
a
timeframe
of
around
4:00
PM
ET
for
the
SEC’s
announcement
on
the
fate
of
these
ETFs.
The
decision
on
spot
Bitcoin
ETFs
previously
arrived
slightly
earlier
on
the
designated
date.

My
best
guess
is
we
hear
from
the
SEC
around
4pm
tomorrow.
For
spot
btc
they
dropped
it
at
3:45pm,
some
others
in
past
were
slightly
after
4pm.
Anything
poss
tho

https://t.co/MzTOcsmTnJ

—
Eric
Balchunas
(@EricBalchunas)

May
22,
2024

Meanwhile,
Ethereum’s
price
has
surged
25%
over
the
past
seven
days,
trading
at
nearly
$3,800
at
press
time,
according
to
CoinGecko’s
data.

Experts
expect
that
a
potential
spot
Ethereum
ETF
approval
could

trigger
a
sharp
price
increase.
However,
whether
Ethereum
can
replicate
Bitcoin’s
price
action
after
the
spot
fund
approval
remains
uncertain.