VanEck Files for Ethereum ETF, Could Start Trading Next Week

Ethereum spot ETFs could begin trading sooner rather than later after asset management firm VanEck yesterday submitted an important regulatory filing for its VanEck Ethereum Trust ETF product.

The 8-A form, which is a standard filing required to have certain ETFs listed on exchanges, may seem fairly meaningless at first glance. But Bloomberg’s ETF analyst Eric Balchunas pointed out that when the firm submitted the same form for its Bitcoin ETF the fund started trading exactly seven days later.

Related: Ethereum ETF Launch Could See 30% Drop In ETH Price, Here is Why 

Bloomberg Analyst Says ETF Could Launch Next Week

Posting on the social media platform, X, Balchunas said the filing was a good sign that the ETF might launch around July 2:

Good sign for our July 2nd over/under (7 days from now). But again, anything poss. Sure we’ll hear more soon…

Eric Balchunas, Senior ETF Analyst at Bloomberg

We can’t assume that because the Bitcoin spot ETF listings unfolded in a certain way the Ethereum listings will follow the same pattern. There are some important differences between the two. 

For one, the Ethereum ETFs have already been approved to trade on national securities exchanges—we’re now just waiting on the individual ETFs to be approved to trade. It’s a matter of when, not if. With the Bitcoin ETFs though, there were significant doubts they’d ever be approved right up to the moment they were approved.

Having said that, Balchunas later added on X that he’d heard several ETF issuers had received feedback on their S-1 forms—these are forms issuers need approved by the SEC for their individual ETFs to be listed—and that feedback was mostly positive. 

Balchunas suggested this might make a July 2 listing even more likely as the regulators look to finalise things before the Fourth of July holiday.

More Signs That ETF Are Coming Soon

Even if we don’t see an Ethereum ETF launch in the next week, there’s a growing consensus that they will be coming soon. Even SEC Chair, Gary Gensler, all but confirmed their imminent listing at a senate hearing earlier this month, saying:

Individual issuers are still working through the registration process. That’s working smoothly…I would envision that some time over the course of this summer they’ll be [approved].

Gary Gensler, SEC Chair

Related: Cramer Hits Gensler With The Question On Everyone’s Lips: Wen BONK? 

And the issuers themselves are ramping up their marketing campaigns, further signalling listings are coming soon:

• Bitwise has launched several television advertisements trumpeting the benefits of Ethereum over TradFi. 
• Meanwhile VanEck has recently released a report making the case for their clients to add Ethereum to their portfolios.