A day after the SEC delayed its judgment on Invesco and Galaxy's combined ether file, ARK Invest and 21 Shares amended their ether exchange-traded fund filing to match with newly authorized spot bitcoin funds. Ether, the Ethereum blockchain platform's cryptocurrency, rose 2.4% today and 5.7% this year
The Ark filing details cash redemption, which was resolved in spot bitcoin applications before those ETFs were authorized Jan. 10. It also describes staking, a security method in which people approve blockchain transactions and lock away portion of their currency.
According to a Feb. 6 filing on its website, the government was taking longer to assess the Invesco Galaxy Ethereum ETF, which would provide investors direct exposure to the second-largest cryptocurrency, ethereum. The SEC is also soliciting public input on major regulatory matters.
The current administration’s SEC has taken a really broad view of which crypto tokens ought to be securities,” Bakkt general counsel Marc D'Annunzio stated on Talk ETFs. "Until that fundamental issue is resolved, I think a spot ETF for ethereum and other tokens the commission [believes] could be securities will be delayed.
Invesco's application was previously postponed by the government in December. The spot ether ETF from Grayscale and BlackRock was delayed in January. The government has until May 23 to approve or reject VanEck's spot ether fund.
Industry executives and experts say the SEC allows ETFs that expose investors to ethereum futures contracts, but allowing a spot product directly backed by the cryptocurrency is uncharted ground with many regulatory issues. The commission finally permitted spot bitcoin ETFs a decade after the first business applied for one in a much anticipated regulatory process. Spot bitcoin ETFs have launched with approximately $7 billion in investor capital since then.
The SEC urged public respondents to answer market manipulation and fraud issues in the delay paper. Example: “Do commenters agree that Bitcoin ETP listing arguments apply equally to Shares?
Bitcoin is the largest cryptocurrency, but many industry experts believe ether offers unique use cases that may benefit financial advisers. The SEC has yet to declare ethereum a security, commodity, or something else, which might prevent the vehicles from being approved.
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