BlackRock, the asset management giant, officially filed for a sport Ethereum ETF on Thursday. The firm has filed an S-1 form with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for its iShares Ethereum Trust.
If the application is approved by the SEC, then the iShares Ethereum Trust, which is a spot Ethereum ETF, will be listed on Nasdaq, which means that investors will have the opportunity to gain access to the second most popular cryptocurrency, behind Bitcoin, without directly owning it, which is the essential property of an ETF.
As more and more firms are filing for various crypto-based spot ETFs, the SEC is now facing further challenges. They have shown extreme reluctance in the past to approve these applications because they believe that they are a front for fraud and manipulation and aren’t adhering to the guidelines of the SEC.
Many firms have recently made alterations to their spot ETF applications just to show the SEC that they are willing to adhere to whatever guidelines the regulatory authority wants them to follow, and many analysts believe that the SEC cannot hold the approval of these applications at bay for long.
The SEC has previously approved futures-based crypto ETFs. Still, its reluctance to accept these spot-based ETFs has caused many observers to question their integrity and their objective in why they don’t want the crypto industry to flourish.
Will the SEC Give the Greenlight to spot Bitcoin ETF applications?
While the SEC is still trying to find ways to make delays in the approval process, they might not be able to find excuses for long. This analysis can be verified by the previous news, especially back in August when the federal appeals court ruled that the SEC was wrong to reject the application from Grayscale Investments to create a spot Bitcoin ETF. Many crypto enthusiasts believe that the SEC is working on borrowed time, and sooner or later, if they don’t substantiate their claim with any proof that these spot ETF applications will have any harmful implications, then they will have no choice but to approve them.
The victory of Grayscale in their case against the SEC has also created a wave of optimism among companies that filed for their crypto-based spot ETF applications that they are close to reaching their objective and their faith in investing in the crypto industry might not be ill-advised, especially since the crypto community saw many high-profile collapses last year.
In June, BlackRock made its initial foray into the cryptocurrency space by filing for a Bitcoin ETF. The latest filing suggests that the financial giant is expanding its focus beyond Bitcoin, the most widely known cryptocurrency globally. BlackRock will be entering competition with both established crypto players like Grayscale and Valkyrie, as well as traditional financial heavyweights such as Invesco (IVZ.N) in the pursuit of market share.
For the proposed ETF, Coinbase Custody, a division of the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase (COIN.O), is set to manage the custody of ether. Additionally, Coinbase is the designated custodian for BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF.
