ETFs
US Spot ETH ETFs Delayed; SEC Requests Resubmission of S-1 Forms by July 8
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has required prospective issuers of spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to refile their S-1 forms by July 8, according to Eric Balchunas, senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg.
This would delay the launch of Ethereum ETFs to mid-July or later, pushing it back from its planned launch date of July 2. SEC chief Gary Gensler told the Senate last month that spot ETH ETFs would be approved “this summer.”
The SEC once again returned the forms, this time with “light comments,” a source at one issuer told The Block. Issuers must respond to comments during the final round of reviews. The source added that this may not be the final filing, suggesting there could be further rounds of discussions between the SEC and issuers.
Approval of S-1 forms is the second part of the Ethereum spot ETF launch process. The first part concerned Forms 19b-4, which received the green light from the SEC in May.
While there was a deadline for Form 19b-4s, there is none for Form S-1s. This means that the launch of spot ETH ETFs will depend on how long it takes for the SEC to review and approve the Form S-1s and announce the final filing date.
THE last revision cycle took place in June when issuers updated their registration statements.
The updates included Franklin Templeton disclosing its 0.19% sponsorship fee. The issuer will also offer free trading on the first $10 billion in assets for six months.
VanEck updated his filing to disclose a 0.20% sponsorship fee. It intends to waive these fees for the first $1.5 billion in assets.
Some issuers also disclosed seed investments in the previous round. Invesco Galaxy announced a $100,000 seed investment on June 17, with the investor purchasing 4,000 shares at $25 each.
Grayscale revealed a similar $100,000 investment for its Ethereum mini trust, with the sponsor acquiring 10,000 shares at $10 each on May 31.
On June 4, Fidelity seed investor FMR Capital purchased 125,000 shares at $37.99 each, contributing $4.7 million to the fund. Earlier, BlackRock announced $10 million in seed funding for its ETF.