The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has amended its rules and cleared the way for exchange-traded products (ETPs) – notably, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) – that deal in spot ether. The change results from petitions from NYSE Arca, Nasdaq and Cboe BZX.
Ether is the crypto currency associated with the Ethereum blockchain – the world’s second largest, behind Bitcoin. Ethereum, in turn, undergirds the metaverses (e.g., Roblox, The Sandbox) and NFTs that we have been reporting on over the past couple of years in connection with various sports companies (Adidas, Nike, Reebok, Under Armour, Moncler, Lacoste, FIFA).
The first spot-ether ETFs to list and trade will be Grayscale Ethereum Trust and Bitwise Ethereum ETF (NYSE Arca); iShares Ethereum Trust (Nasdaq); and VanEck Ethereum Trust, ARK 21Shares Ethereum ETF, Invesco Galaxy Ethereum ETF, Fidelity Ethereum Fund and Franklin Ethereum ETF (Cboe BZX).
The SEC’s decision follows another, back in January, on ETPs dealing in spot bitcoin.
As of this writing, Bitcoin (BTC) has a market cap of about $1.38 trillion, Ethereum (ETH) of $474 billion.
