The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to begin trading in the United States on July 23, 2024.
This decision comes after the SEC approved the necessary S-1 registration statements on July 22, paving the way for these ETFs to launch on major stock exchanges including Nasdaq, NYSE Arca, and the Chicago Board Options Exchange.
Several prominent financial institutions have successfully secured approval as ETF issuers, including BlackRock, Fidelity, 21Shares, Bitwise, Franklin Templeton, VanEck, and Invesco Galaxy. This development follows the SEC’s initial greenlight of their 19b-4 applications on May 23, which approved the rule change allowing spot Ethereum ETFs to be listed and traded on exchanges.
The listing details
Among the approved ETFs, the BlackRock-issued iShares Ethereum Trust will be listed on Nasdaq, while the Grayscale Ethereum Trust will trade on NYSE Arca. Most of these new ETFs will offer competitive base fees ranging from 0.15% to 0.25%, with several issuers waiving fees for initial periods or until certain asset thresholds are reached.
This approval comes at a time of political change, with US President Joe Biden recently withdrawing from the 2024 election race and the subsequent crypto volatility. Some market analysts view this development as potentially positive for cryptocurrency assets.
Industry experts anticipate that spot Ethereum ETFs could attract between 10% to 20% of the investment flows seen by spot Bitcoin ETFs, which launched approximately six months ago. In Early June, a market analysis report suggested that ETH ETF inflows could range between $3 billion and $4.8 billion within the first five months. This is slightly higher than JPMorgan’s $3 billion forecast for this year.
In late May, analysts started sharing bets on where Ethereum’s price was headed following the approval of the ETH spot ETF. One analyst wrote at the time:
It’s time to send $ETH into the stratosphere.
