Ark Invest and VanEck have applied to register spot Ethereum-ETFs

Cboe has filed Form 19b-4 registrations for spot Ethereum ETFs from Ark Invest/21Shares and VanEck. Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart is confident that the first exchange-traded products in this category will be approved before the end of May 2024.

How do these applications differ from previous ones?

VanEck filed to register a spot Ethereum ETF back in 2021. Ark Inest/21Shares filed on Form S-1 on September 6, 2023.

After that, both companies re-submitted the papers to the US Securities and Exchange Commission through Cboe, but under Form 19b-4.

Seyffart believes that this will start the “official countdown” to the registration of these exchange-traded products. The analyst even named the deadline - May 23, 2024.

Form 19b-4 is essentially a request for a change to current regulatory rules. At the same time, the S-1 only notifies it of its intention to place a new investment product, Cointelegraph reports.

Are these the first applications for registration of exchange products based on Ethereum?

In August 2023, several large investment companies expressed their intention to bring Ethereum futures ETFs to the market. These include ARK Invest and 21Shares, as well as Valkyrie.

This class of products differs from the spot investment mechanism. In the first case, the company invests in futures contracts, in the second - directly in the asset itself.