The Securities and Exchange Commission is reportedly on the verge of greenlighting exchange-traded funds linked to the spot price of $Ethereum (ETH.CC)$.
What Happened: Discussions between asset managers and regulators are nearing their end and the hotly anticipated investment avenues could go up for listing as soon as July 4, a Reuters report indicated Wednesday.
Executives from two of the firms anonymously revealed that the process of amending the offering documents is down to resolving minor issues. A lawyer associated with one of the issuers stated that approval is likely just a week or two away.
Eight asset managers, including BlackRock, VanEck, and Grayscale Investments which had previously launched spot $Bitcoin (BTC.CC)$ ETFs such as $iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT.US)$, $VanEck Bitcoin Trust (HODL.US)$, and $Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC.US)$, are seeking SEC approval for the funds.
Why It Matters: The launch of funds tracking the spot price of Bitcoin in January was a massive success, attracting about $8 billion in assets. As of late June, these nine new products have nearly $38 billion in assets. However, some ETF and cryptocurrency analysts believe the launch of the new spot ether ETFs will be less impressive due to ether's smaller market cap and trading volumes.
The latest speculation comes a week after Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas moved up the launch date for the ETFs to July 2. Balchunas had said that there was a "decent chance" the SEC would declare them effective and get it off their plate before the holiday weekend.
In a recent interview, SEC Chair Gary Gensler highlighted the smooth progress of ETF filings He indicated that the final decision lies with asset managers to make full disclosures for the registration statements to go into effect.
While the enthusiasm was palpable, a few analysts predicted that the launch could potentially lead to a 30% drop in Ether's price.
Price Action: At the time of writing, Ether was exchanging hands at $3,377.13, following a 1.06% drop in the last 24 hours, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.