Van Eck and ProShares both withdrew their applications to the Securities and Exchange Commission for approval of ether futures ETFs barely two days after submitting.
VanEck, an asset management business, made headlines recently after submitting an application to the US Securities and Exchange Commission [SEC] for an Ethereum exchange-traded fund [ETF]. The firm, though, has withdrawn its application. According to the most recent filing by VanEck,
“The Amendment relates to VanEck Ethereum Strategy ETF, a series of the Trust. No securities were sold in connection with the Amendment and the Trust has determined not to proceed with the offering of this series at this time.”
Another asset manager, ProShares, has also opted not to proceed with an ETF. “The Amendment pertains to the ProShares Ether Strategy ETF, a newly created series of the Trust. The Amendment is being withdrawn because the Trust has chosen not to proceed with the registration process for the new series created by the Amendment.
This was revealed in SEC documents on Friday, with the agency repeating that the firms chose not to register their Ether-based exchange-traded funds. This came as a surprise to many in the ETH community. Particularly given the filing on Wednesday of the aforementioned applications to launch an “Ethereum Strategy ETF” and an “Ether Strategy ETF.”
The two ETFs were created with the objective of boosting exposure to Ether [ETH] through the purchase of Futures contracts and other exchange-traded securities. If the two firms had proceeded with their ETFs, they would have joined a league of almost 21 crypto-ETF submissions in 2021. Although the firms’ reasons for withdrawing their applications are unknown, it’s worth noting that they also applied for Bitcoin ETFs.
Earlier this month, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler commented on ETFs. He previously stated that he would be more receptive to ETFs based on crypto-futures rather than direct exposure to the digital asset. Around that time, VanEck filed a separate application for a Bitcoin “strategy” ETF, bearing in mind Gensler’s words. However, the SEC is still considering whether to approve an exchange-traded fund at the moment.
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