From SEC alright to ETF itemizing on Ethereum, first step in the direction of product launch

US regulators have given the inexperienced mild for NYSE and Nasdaq to checklist eight spot ETFs on Ether. The transfer by the Securities and Exchange Commission represents the first necessary step

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has given the green light for NYSE and Nasdaq to list eight spot ETFs on Ether. The move marks the first major step towards trading ETFs that directly invest in the second-largest cryptocurrency following January’s approval for Bitcoin.

However, the S-1 filings that will allow asset managers (including BlackRock, Fidelity, Invesco and Ark Invest) to issue the new products to the public are still pending. The regulator has given no indication of when this may occur.

The SEC’s green light came after several days of rumors, which had pushed the token’s price upwards. In fact, the authority reportedly contacted the issuers and stock exchanges (Nasdaq and CBOE) regarding the pending requests, asking for additional documentation and suggesting that the approval process was moving in the right direction.

One specific request that the SEC reportedly made to the applicants was to revise their products to exclude the “staking” component on ether held by the ETF issuers, a type of additional yield for holding the token.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the U.S. House of Congress voted in favor of a bill that would reduce the SEC’s authority over cryptocurrencies and establish the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as the industry’s primary regulator. While awaiting approval in the Senate, the White House said it opposed the bill in its current form, and called for further collaboration with Congress for a better regulation that protects consumers and investors.

The recent signals have sparked a rally in Ether’s price, pushing it from around $3,000 to over $3,700, a gain of over 20%. At the time of writing, the digital asset trades for just over $3,600.

The SEC’s approval to the listing requests was therefore received in a neutral manner, but according to some analysts, the final approval of Ether ETFs could push prices towards $4,000, already touched in March in the wake of the Bitcoin rally.

Since the beginning of the year, Ethereum shows an increase of over 60%, even higher than that of the most important cryptocurrency (+58%). Bitcoin could in turn benefit from the enlargement of the crypto investor base, also from a reputational standpoint.

According to CoinMarketCap, Ether has a market capitalization of around $450 billion, roughly a third of that of Bitcoin and equal to 18% of the total market value of cryptocurrencies.

The SEC has long resisted calls for spot cryptocurrency ETFs, but had to fold after a court ruling in favor of Grayscale, which had contested the rejection of its application for a similar Bitcoin product.

This helped pave the way for the green light to funds listed on the best-known digital currency, and for further approvals, as is now happening for Ethereum, also thanks to a change of course from Washington on the subject.

In January, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler clarified that his agency “did not approve or endorse Bitcoin” and called the decision “the narrowest path to proceed” following the court defeat. A concept also reiterated in the last hours, in which Gensler has confirmed his reluctance to allow the launch of cryptocurrency investment products on the US market in light of the numerous frauds and scams found in the sector (as in the case of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried).

First of all, the approval of Ether ETFs will allow “easier access to this digital asset, with greater protection and safeguards” as stated by Invesco and Galaxy, who hope for a quick green light for the launch of the products.

Issuing spot ETFs on Ethereum could also facilitate their inclusion within pension funds and other types of collective investment of savings, leading to a greater acceptance by the public for a type of asset that still arouses suspicion.

As for the cryptocurrency market as a whole, investors are likely to increase bets on the next cryptoassets that could get the green light to launch spot ETFs.

As noted by Luciano Serra, Country Manager Italy of Boerse Stuttgart Digital“The Spot Bitcoin ETFs had already attracted the attention of the traditional financial world, both for the entry into this market of the main players in world finance (such as BlackRock, Fidelity Investments and Franklin Templeton), and for the massive entry of capital from investors, with the purchase of over 200,000 Bitcoins in just three months and a substantial increase in the value of the cryptocurrency market. Subsequently, Serra recalls, “it was the turn of Hong Kong, where in April the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) authorized the launch of spot ETFs on both Bitcoin and Ethereum.”

Yesterday’s SEC decision on Ether “certainly constitutes another milestone towards the adoption of cryptocurrencies by financial institutions on a global scale” as well as “an additional step towards the convergence between traditional and digital finance”.

According to the expert, the authority’s green light for ETFs on Ethereum could push the token “past the $4,000 threshold, increasing the possibility of