SEC chair: Speed of launch of spot ETH ETFs depends on their issuers

Investment companies need to get approval of applications to launch new securities to start trading

07.06.2024 - 13:35

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What’s new? US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chair Gary Gensler has commented on the situation with Ethereum-based spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which were partially approved by his agency last month. According to Gensler, the full launch of such products does not depend on the SEC, but on how quickly issuers respond to officials’ comments on their applications.

Material by Reuters

What else is known? Spot BTC ETFs were admitted to the US market on January 11, with 11 such funds currently trading on local stock exchanges: GBTC from Grayscale, IBIT from BlackRock, FBTC from Fidelity, ARKB from ARK Invest and 21Shares, BITB from Bitwise, BTCO from Invesco and Galaxy, HODL from VanEck, BRRR from Valkyrie, EZBC from Franklin Templeton, BTCW from WisdomTree and DEFI from Hashdex.

Following the successful launch, most of these companies have also announced plans to launch similar products based on the largest altcoin. In late May, the SEC approved the Form 19b-4 trading rule change applications filed by stock exchanges preparing to list ETH ETFs.

However, to launch the funds, the SEC must also approve Form S-1 applications for registration of new securities (fund shares) filed by the issuers themselves. Some experts have suggested that the regulator may significantly delay this process, while others have suggested that the funds will be approved within three months at most.

Inflow into the Australian spot BTC ETF amounted to 1 bitcoin on the first day of trading

The fund’s issuer predicted high demand and is already planning to launch a similar ETH-based product

Earlier this week, Gensler also said that the review of S-1 applications could take some time. However, his new remarks indicate that the commission probably does not intend to delay approval and is waiting for initiative from issuers.

“These registrants are self-motivated to be responsive to the comments they get, but it’s really up to them how responsive they are,” the official said.

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