By
Svetlana Soroka
June 14th, 2024
ETF analyst James Seyffart noted that while the 19b-4 filings have been approved, the funds still need to pass another scrutiny stage for the S-1 documents to be reviewed.
With Ethereum (ETH) spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recently approved by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), analysts anticipate that these new investment products could become available as early as mid-June.
Eric Balchunas, a senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg, responded to a colleague’s suggestion that the newly approved ETH ETFs might take longer to hit the market, stating that “Mid-June is certainly possible” for the products to become available for trading.
Ethereum ETFs Could Officially Launch in June
The SEC approved eight of the 19b-4 filings submitted to the agency after weeks of anticipation and silence from the financial watchdog on May 23. However, ETF analyst James Seyffart noted that while the 19b-4 filings have been approved, the funds still need to pass another scrutiny stage for the S-1 documents to be reviewed.
Seyffart explained that the S-1 document approval process could take “a couple of weeks” or even longer. While the entire process ideally could take up to five months, he believes it will be expedited, similar to the approval process for Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs, which took around 90 days.
Balchunas agreed with Seyffart’s assessment, stating that the most critical part of the process is over, and now the SEC is handling the logistics involved with the Ether ETFs.
He pointed out that one round of comments for Bitcoin ETFs took about two weeks to complete. Therefore, Balchunas is optimistic that the SEC could finalize the S-1 documents by mid-June, allowing the products to enter the market by then.
VanEck Leads the Way
VanEck, one of the issuers of Ethereum ETFs, has already filed its amended S-1 documents following the approval of its 19b-4 filings.
The company is the first among the eight asset managers, including Bitwise, BlackRock, Grayscale, Invesco Galaxy, Ark 21Shares, Fidelity, and Franklin Templeton, to submit an S-1 after receiving approval for their 19b-4 filings.
However, despite the recent approval of Ethereum ETFs, Gabriel Shapiro, the general counsel for Delphi Labs, pointed out that the SEC has up to ten days to challenge the decision.
He explained that the crypto ETFs were approved by the SEC’s Division of Trading and Markets unit under delegated authority, which allows any of the five SEC Commissioners to contest the decision.
Not Gonna Happen
Joe Carlasare, a crypto-focused lawyer, pointed out that while the SEC retains the option to contest the decision, it is improbable given that the agency would not have delegated decision-making to the trading and market units unless there was unanimous support among the commissioners.
“They wouldn’t have passed it through trading and markets without knowing that no Commissioner opposed it,” he explained.
Bloomberg’s Seyffart also disagreed with Shapiro. He clarified that decisions made with delegated authority are standard procedures within the agency.
He further explained that requiring an official vote for every decision and document would be impractical.
Additionally, he indicated that seeking a review would likely not affect the approvals.