SEC Reviews ProShares’ Spot Ether ETF Application Amid Market Anticipation

• The US SEC is considering approving a new spot Ether ETF application from ProShares that would trade on the New York Stock Exchange, with Coinbase providing custody services.
• While it approved eight spot ETFs for the largest altcoin, the regulator has yet to sign off on the final S-1 forms to give the green light for trading, which experts say could take several months.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has added a spot Ethereum ETF application from ProShares to its website and is weighing its approval, even as the eight others approved last month await its green light to launch on the trading platforms.

On Monday, the SEC revealed in a filing that it acknowledged ProShares’s application to trade a spot ETH ETF on the New York Stock Exchange’s Arca platform. The regulator called for public feedback on the ETF. Gary Gensler has 45 days to respond to the filing, but he can extend the deadline by another 45 days.

In its filing, ProShares revealed that it will use the Coinbase Custody Trust Company for the safekeeping of the ETH under its management. It also pledged not to engage in staking.

ProShares is one of the industry ETF titans; it was one of the first investment firms that the SEC approved to list a spot investment fund tied to Ethereum futures last October. It also offers the Bitcoin Strategy ETF, which trades under the ticker symbol BITO, whose assets under management stand at $2.1 billion and peaked at $3 billion in March this year. BITO was the first Bitcoin-linked ETF to invest in future contracts.

However, when the race to launch the first spot ETF directly investing in Bitcoin started last year, ProShares was curiously absent. Its rivals, Grayscale and Bitwise, marched on and received the approval, and today, they manage billions of dollars in their ETFs. New players from traditional finance, like Fidelity and BlackRock, also joined the ETF race, and today, the two giants collectively manage over $33 billion in AUM.

When Will Ether ETFs Start Trading?

In its approval of the eight Ether ETFs, the SEC only signed off the form 19b-4 fillings from the applicants. However, they need the agency to sign off their S-1 registration statements to launch, and experts are split on when this approval will come.

Some, like Bloomberg’s Eric Balchunas, say the approval could be as soon as early July, although others believe it could take much longer.

Gensler has hinted that the crypto industry may have to wait a while before the debut of the ETFs. In an interview a week ago, he said that his agency is still combing through the ETFs to ensure that investors will be adequately protected, as Crypto News Flash reported.

“That will take some time, but they’re working on that right now.,” he told CNBC.

Even with the new ProShares filling, the industry isn’t clear whether it will be added to the rest of the applications or will take longer. Some, like Bloomberg’s James Seyffart, believe it’s unlikely that ProShares will join the rest, stating:

SEC just added the ProShares’ Ethereum ETF Filing to its website. (That is extremely quick) Instinct initially says this wont launch on day 1 with the other ETFs whenever that is but who knows. This is interesting.

Meanwhile, ETH trades at $3,530, shedding 4% in the past day despite a 70% surge in trading volume.