Asset management firm Valkyrie, one of the frontrunners for the first Ethereum ETF (exchange-traded fund) in the United States, has decided to pause its purchase of Ether futures contracts until the US Securities and Exchange Commission approves an Ether futures ETF. This comes barely a day after the asset manager reportedly secured approval to offer investors exposure to Ether futures under its existing strategy ETF (BTF).
SEC Might Be Behind This Action, Bloomberg Expert Speculates
On Friday, September 29, Valkyrie filed a 497 with the SEC, saying that it would halt the purchase of Ether futures contracts and unwind its existing positions.
A part of the filing read:
The plot thickens, Valkyrie just put out 497 that they are in fact not going to buy Ether futures until they are live (prob Tue) and are going to sell the Eth futures they bought (in an effort to jump line a bit). SEC must have threatened them to cut it out. Damn. https://t.co/yDkggCw3d1 pic.twitter.com/cKaV7k7AJs
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) September 29, 2023
Nine Ethereum ETFs To Launch Next Week?
According to Eric Balchunas’ analysis, about nine Ethereum ETFs will potentially start trading on Monday, October 2. Notably, asset manager ProShares owns three of these funds, with two being combined Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs.
VanEck is another frontrunner for the first Ether futures ETFs in the US. The investment manager recently announced its intention to donate 10% of profits from its Ethereum ETF (EFUT) to The Protocol Guild, a compensation plan for Ethereum core contributors.
VanEck wrote on X (formerly Twitter):
Big announcement!
We intend to donate 10% of our $EFUT ETF profits (https://t.co/gr652AkUvv) to @ProtocolGuild for at least 10 years.
Thank you, Ethereum contributors, for nearly a decade of relentless building & ongoing stewardship of this common infrastructure.
Details 👇
— VanEck (@vaneck_us) September 29, 2023
It is worth mentioning that the ETH price has seen some reprieve since news of the potential Ethereum ETF launch started making rounds. As of this writing, Ether is valued at $1,676, reflecting a substantial 5% price jump in the past week.
Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView