Grayscale Investments, in collaboration with NYSE Arca, has submitted Form 19b-4 to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) with the intention of converting the Grayscale Ethereum trust into a spot ether exchange-traded fund (ETF).
This filing follows the recent clearance by the SEC for the first Ethereum (ETH) futures ETFs. Earlier on the same day, both VanEck and ProShares launched ETFs based on ether futures.
Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein emphasized the significance of this move, stating, “As we file to convert ETHE to an ETF, the natural next step in the product’s evolution, we recognize this as an important moment to bring Ethereum even further into the U.S. regulatory perimeter.”
The Grayscale Ethereum trust was launched in March 2019 and became an SEC reporting company in October 2020. It is currently the largest investment vehicle for ETH globally, managing nearly $5 billion in assets, which represents 2.5% of all ETH in circulation.
In the previous month, Grayscale also submitted paperwork to the SEC for a new ETH futures ETF under the Securities Act of 1933, the regulation that governs commodities and spot bitcoin ETFs. Grayscale had previously submitted an application for a distinct ether futures ETF under the Investment Company Act of 1940, which serves as the regulatory framework followed by most ETFs based on securities. This dual filing approach is reminiscent of the strategy employed for bitcoin futures ETFs, several of which received approval from the SEC under both regulatory acts.
Grayscale expressed its commitment to converting all of its trust products into ETFs, a move that could further integrate cryptocurrencies into the U.S. regulatory framework.
