The SEC Approves the Bitwise Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF

According to an SEC filing made public on Thursday, the agency granted approval on an “accelerated basis,” fast-tracking a moment that many investors have been eagerly awaiting.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved an application by Bitwise Asset Management to launch a spot bitcoin and ether exchange-traded fund (ETF), according to an SEC filing on Thursday.

The SEC granted approval on an “accelerated basis,” fast-tracking a moment that many investors have been eagerly awaiting.

The ETF will hold spot bitcoin and ether positions as well as cash, mixing the two largest cryptocurrencies into a single product.

This marks the first time that the SEC has approved an ETF that will track the price of bitcoin and ether on a direct basis.

Previously, the agency has only approved ETFs that track crypto-linked futures or a broader index of digital assets.

The approval comes as a handful of crypto asset managers have been racing to submit a variety of ETF filings to U.S. regulators in recent months.

This trend reflects a “sea-change” in how policymakers, particularly under the Trump administration's final stretch, are starting to consider digital asset funds.

Even before this Bitwise fund got the nod, VanEck and ProShares applied for ETFs centered on Litecoin, XRP and Solana in the days leading up to Inauguration Day. Bitwise has also applied for XRP, Dogecoin and Solana ETFs.

Earlier on Thursday, Grayscale Investments filed a request with the New York Stock Exchange to transform its existing XRP Trust into a spot XRP ETF.