3 Spot Ether Funds Receive Preliminary Greenlight: Report

Three of the eight issuers of proposed spot Ethereum ETFs have already received early approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission to begin trading on July 23, according to a Reuters report Monday, citing unnamed sources. 

The approvals depend on the asset managers filing final S-1 registration statements for the new products by week's end. Bloomberg Senior ETF Analyst Eric Balchunas tweeted on Monday that the agency has asked the eight asset managers to file the prospectuses by Wednesday, including fees and "then request effectiveness" after equity markets close Monday "for a TUESDAY 7/23 LAUNCH." 

"This is provided no unforeseeable last min issues of course!," Balchunas wrote.

Balchunas had originally projected a July 2 debut for the ETFs after the SEC seemed to shift its stance on the funds, approving a rule change that would allow the funds to list on exchanges. Spot Ethereum funds would become the second ETFs based on the ongoing price of a cryptocurrency following less than eight months after the debut of spot bitcoin ETFs.

Read More: Spot Ether ETFs Likely to Debut by July 2: Report

etf.com reached out to the SEC for comment. 

Ether, the token of the Ethereum smart contracts blockchain, was recently trading at about $3,460, up nearly 3% over the past 24 hours, according to data provider CoinMarketCap. The second largest digital asset, with a $420 billion market cap, has risen more than 12% during the past week, part of a crypto markets surge fueled partly by the advancing presidential prospects of Donald Trump, who is considered supportive of crypto. 

Spot Bitcoin ETF Torrid Flows

Spot bitcoin ETFs have generated more than $16 billion in inflows since the first of the funds started trading on Jan. 11, according to U.K.-based asset manager Farside Investors. The BlackRock Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), which jumped 1.7% today, generated $10 billion in inflows faster than any ETF in history. The 11 bitcoin-focused funds have pulled in more than $300 million in inflows over the past two trading days as bitcoin's price has surged above $65,000 for the first time in nearly a month 

The world's largest asset manager is joined by financial services giants including Fidelity, VanEck, Grayscale and Franklin Templeton in applying for spot Ethereum ETFs. Existing ETFs offering exposure to Ethereum are based on futures contracts. Prior to the approval of spot bitcoin funds on Jan. 10, ETFs offered only futures exposure to the cryptocurrency. 

Read More: Ethereum ETF Approval Process 'Going Smoothly': Gensler

In an X post Monday, Nate Geraci also predicted an unveiling of spot Ethereum ETFs next week.

"Welcome to spot eth ETF approval week," he quipped. "I'm calling it."

He added: "...Just can't come up w/good reason for any further delay at this point. Issuers ready for launch."