Two Proposals for First Ethereum Spot ETFs in the US Announced

ARK Invest and VanEck have simultaneously filed applications to register Ethereum spot ETFs with the SEC.

Two Proposals for First Ethereum Spot ETFs in the US Announced

According to filings released early on September 7th, two prominent Wall Street financial firms, ARK Invest and VanEck, are seeking SEC consideration and approval to establish Ethereum spot ETF investment products.

Both proposed Ethereum spot ETFs, if approved, will trade on the Cboe BZX exchange, utilizing Coinbase as the custodian for ETH and meeting valuation oversight requirements.

These are the first two proposals for Ethereum spot ETFs to be introduced in the US, following the trend of several Bitcoin spot ETFs backed by major Wall Street players in recent times. Similarly, these investment fund products will directly hold BTC/ETH and issue shares based on them, allowing both retail and institutional investors to invest in these top cryptocurrencies without directly holding them. All have selected Coinbase as their crypto custodian, despite the exchange facing SEC allegations regarding securities listing.

As reported by Coin68, in early September, the SEC postponed decisions on all these Bitcoin spot ETFs, deferring to mid-October. Despite this, with positive signals such as Wall Street endorsements of ETFs and Grayscale's legal victories against the SEC, many analysts forecast a 75% likelihood of Bitcoin spot ETFs appearing in 2023.

Additionally, the market is also focused on a series of Ethereum futures ETF proposals that emerged in July and August, referencing prices based on ETH futures contracts rather than spot ETH prices.

ETH prices initially reacted positively to the news of ARK Invest and VanEck's Ethereum spot ETF proposals but quickly retraced afterward.