Ethereum
Three experts on when you can buy an Ethereum ETF – DL News
- The SEC is set to approve a set of Ethereum ETF filings on Thursday.
- However, product launches can take weeks or months.
Don’t expect Ethereum spot exchange traded funds to launch immediately after the green light from the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Until Monday, the SEC appeared poised to deny all Ethereum ETF applications, and the agency’s sudden change of heart surprised both its staff and potential issuers.
Now, as a crucial deadline approaches, it is likely that the SEC will approve the investment products in quasi-official terms on Thursday, but it will likely still need more time to sort through the documents before the ETFs can be launched.
“There will be days (at a minimum), probably at least weeks, and potentially months between approval and launch here,” Bloomberg Intelligence ETF analyst James Seyffart. job.
“It will take weeks, not months, but we are just making educated guesses,” said Eric Balchunas, another Bloomberg Intelligence ETF analyst. DL News. “The information will come soon, we will know for sure.”
SEC Filings
The issue involves two sets of documents that potential ETF issuers must sort through: 19b-4 documents and S-1 documents.
19b-4 filings are signed by the SEC’s Trading and Markets division, while S-1 forms are processed by the regulator’s Corporate Finance division.
Only once both are finalized can the SEC officially greenlight the products.
Join the community to receive our latest stories and updates
All potential ETF issuers must order their 19b-4s by Thursday if they want their product ready for launch day. Indeed, a crucial deadline for VanEck’s 19b-4 filing is approaching: if the SEC does not approve this filing by then, it will be as if the agency had rejected the application.
But it’s not just VanEck’s problem. Just like with spot Bitcoin ETFs, the SEC likely wants to approve all potential Ethereum ETFs at the same time to avoid giving an advantage to any specific product. Each issuer must therefore hurry to prepare this document before the deadline set by VanEck.
However, once 19b-4s are approved, the SEC and potential issuers have significantly more time to finalize S-1 filings.
“The SEC spent nearly four months reviewing and iterating the S-1 Bitcoin spot and five months reviewing the S-1 Bitcoin future,” Scott Johnsson, partner at international law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell, wrote.
“If Corporation Finance was indeed informed of this potential approval yesterday, then it is probably just getting started,” he added.
In other words, the SEC will likely signal Thursday that it will approve Ethereum ETFs by finalizing 19b-4 filings — but it won’t officially give them the green light until later, perhaps this summer, once the filings S-1 will be processed. Also.
“A month would be a pretty quick turnaround,” Johnsson said. “This is essentially a single round of SEC commentary.”
Tom Carreras is a markets correspondent for DL News. Do you have a tip on Ethereum ETFs? Contact us at tcarreras@dlnews.com