CoinDesk Reports:
Bitwise Asset Management has amended its S-1 registration with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the listing and trading of its Ethereum spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) shares.
Earlier, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler indicated that the commission might finalize the approval of spot Ethereum ETFs by the summer of 2024, with some analysts predicting as early as July.
Bitwise Amends Its S-1 Registration
Bitwise submitted an updated S-1 filing to the SEC on July 3, including a six-month fee waiver of up to $500 million.
While the filing did not specify the exact launch date for trading on the New York Stock Exchange’s Arca platform, it mentioned it would occur “as soon as practicable” after the registration becomes effective.
Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas noted that Bitwise filed the amended S-1 by the July 8 deadline, stating, “Prob just wanted to get it out of their system; last round of comments was ‘actually nothing’ = update took zero time. Plus, no fee. Prob gets it next week.”
He also speculated on reasons for the SEC delaying its approval process, suggesting issues with issuers or simply a seasonal economic slowdown.
Balchunas added, “No one really knows why the SEC is taking a sweet time with these stocks, given how breezy the comments were, these stocks are now easy to trade.”
Summer Approval Timeline
Prior to Bitwise’s move, the SEC approved the 19b-4 filings for Ethereum spot ETFs from eight asset management firms on May 23. Since then, the cryptocurrency investment community has eagerly awaited further progress from the SEC regarding potential release dates.
During a June 13 Senate Banking Committee hearing, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler stated that the commission expected to approve asset management companies’ S-1 registration statements “at some point this summer.” Gensler mentioned that the registration process for Ethereum exchange-traded products was progressing smoothly and individual issuers were expected to be approved in the coming months.
Previously, Gensler hinted on June 5 during an interview with CNBC that SEC approval for Ethereum spot ETFs might be delayed, indicating the next steps would “take some time.”
Bitwise initially filed its S-1 with the SEC in March to offer shares of a spot Ethereum ETF, amid speculation that regulators were considering classifying Ethereum as a security. However, court documents in June suggested that the SEC had abandoned this consideration.
