As of Aug. 3, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has received a total of 12 Ethereum (ETH) exchange-traded fund (ETF) applications.
The latest additions came from Bitwise, submitting new applications for equal-weight and market-weight versions of its Bitcoin and ETH futures ETFs.
This continues the flurry of Ethereum-related ETF applications that started on July 28 when Volatility Shares filed its submission. Since then, other asset managers, including Grayscale, Proshares, etc., have submitted new applications, with some having multiple filings.
James Seyffart, a financial expert with Bloomberg Intelligence, reported that ProShares had filed four Ethereum ETF applications with the SEC. Information on the regulator’s website shows that Bitwise has made three applications, while Grayscale made two.
Others like Roundhill, VanEck, and Volatility Shares have submitted one application apiece. Meanwhile, a new name in the mix is Direxion, which filed a dual Bitcoin and Ethereum futures ETF on Aug. 2.
Will the SEC approve?
Market experts have previously argued that the applications are more of a gamble by the asset managers who don’t want to miss out on being the first Ethereum ETF in the U.S. However, the possibility of getting approval is slim as the SEC has never approved an Ethereum futures ETF filing.
Additionally, chair Gary Gensler consistently declined to answer if the Commission considers Ethereum a security, thereby increasing the regulatory uncertainty surrounding the blockchain network.
SEC still has Bitcoin ETF applications to deal with
Meanwhile, the wave of Ethereum ETF applications is coming on the heels of a deluge of Spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETF applications submitted by numerous traditional financial institutions, including BlackRock, the largest asset manager globally, to the SEC.
Bloomberg’s analysts Eric Balchunas and James Seyffart opined that there was a 65% chance the financial regulator could approve the Bitcoin ETF applications before it. Seyffart explained that:
“The lynchpin for this current thesis is a Grayscale victory over the SEC in Federal court. Which COULD set things up for a wave of SEC approvals sometime in the 4th quarter? All depends on how much Gensler wants to fight here.”
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