A total of eight potential Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the United States are moving closer to launch, according to Katherine Dowling, chief compliance officer of crypto asset manager Bitwise. Yet, an exact release date remains unspecifed. Dowling suggests that a decreasing amount of revisions to the S-1 amendments indicate approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) could be imminent.
S-1 forms are used to provide information about issuers and their intended offerings. Once approved, the assets can be launched. Gary Gensler, U.S. SEC Chair, previously suggested the ETFs could be approved this summer. However, there has been keen anticipation building amongst potential issuers due to the delay.
Several Ether ETF issuers have awaited approval for their S-1 registration statements from the SEC following several 19b-4 filings approval on May 23. They amended their S-1s in early July after receiving initial feedback from the regulatory body. Matt Hougan, Bitwise’s chief investment officer, expressed that the new ETFs could draw up to $15 billion in inflows in the first 18 months of trading, mirroring the Bitcoin ETFs’ performance since their launch six months ago.
Interestingly, Dowling suggested that the SEC is receptive to discussions about products beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum. The chief compliance officer stated that talks about future product offerings with the SEC have been encouraging. Dowling, however, does not foresee that a third-spot cryptocurrency ETF will be approved under Gensler’s stewardship.