On June 21, several asset managers submitted revised proposals for an Ethereum exchange-traded fund (ETF) to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). VanEck, BlackRock, Grayscale, and Invesco Galaxy Digital released updated S-1 Registration Statements after the market closed on Friday. Fidelity also filed a new S-1 form with the regulator earlier in the day.
VanEck’s filing revealed a management fee of 0.20% for its Ethereum fund, which is in line with competitors like Franklin Templeton, who charge 0.19% in management fees. However, BlackRock has not yet announced the management fee for its iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA), leaving investors curious about the cost.
Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas suggests that VanEck’s fee puts pressure on BlackRock to keep its fee under 30 basis points (bps) at least.
The Commission has received previous amendments in the past weeks, and the approval of the S-1 is one of the final steps before the funds’ debut on Wall Street exchanges. Balchunas predicts that the funds will launch in the first week of July, just before the U.S. Independence Day holiday.
In May, the SEC approved a rule change that allowed major asset managers to list and trade eight spot Ether ETFs, including VanEck, BlackRock, Fidelity, Grayscale, Franklin Templeton, ARK 21Shares, Invesco Galaxy, and Bitwise.
Fidelity’s updated filing disclosed that FMR Capital, one of its affiliates, has seeded $4.7 million at $38 per share. Bitwise also updated its ETF proposal, including a potential $100 million investment from Pantera Capital at the ETF’s trading launch.
In addition to these developments, Hashdex is seeking regulatory approval for a new ETF that combines spot Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether. A few weeks ago, Hashdex abandoned its plans to launch an ETF solely dedicated to Ether.