Nearly 6 months after approving Bitcoin spot ETFs, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has given the green light to a series of Ethereum spot ETFs in the United States. This turnaround marks a significant milestone in the institutionalization of cryptocurrencies.

SEC approves Ethereum spot ETFs in the United States

While the likelihood of approving Ethereum spot ETFs seemed extremely unlikely not long ago, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has finally decided to give the go-ahead for a series of applications.

Most analysts believe political motivations drive the SEC’s sudden change, but the reasons remain unclear.

After repeatedly postponing the deadline for its final response, the SEC was forced to make a decision on VanEck’s Ethereum spot ETF, which had a deadline today. However, other ETFs were also approved in quick succession, allowing for a launch without disparities among different issuers.

Here is the list of approved ETFs :

• BlackRock (iShares)
• Fidelity
• Grayscale
• Bitwise
• VanEck
• ARK 21Shares
• Franklin Templeton
• Invesco Galaxy

The regulator had followed the same approach when approving the highly anticipated Bitcoin spot ETFs on January 10th. A resounding success, as they currently accumulate $59.2 billion in assets under management, with BlackRock leading the way with nearly $20 billion worth of BTC in its coffers for this purpose.

An Ethereum spot ETF lets investors buy shares in a fund holding Ether directly, unlike futures-based ETFs.

As Ether is the second most capitalized cryptocurrency in the market, the approval of these various ETH spot ETFs could have a massive impact on the ecosystem and the institutionalization of cryptocurrencies. However, to gauge their significance, we will need to await the approval of the S-1 forms by the SEC, a prerequisite for offering Ethereum spot ETFs for trading.

Despite the news, ETH trades around $3,800 after gaining over 30% in 7 days, lagging behind Bitcoin’s 50% rise in 2024. Indeed, the ETH/BTC pair has been in a nearly continuous decline since September 2022.

When will Ethereum ETFs be available for trading ?

The SEC has approved Form 19b-4, which is just the first step before full validation allowing the availability of ETFs on platforms for purchase. For this to occur, a validated Form S-1 is needed. VanEck promptly filled out the necessary form :

A report published by Galaxy Digital on Tuesday predicts that Ethereum ETFs could become available by July or August. This is corroborated by James Seyffart:

As a rule, this process takes months. Up to 5 months in some cases, but Eric Balchunas and I believe this process will be accelerated. The Bitcoin ETFs took around 90 days. We’ll know more soon.

Source : Securities and Exchange Commission, TheBlock