Spot Ethereum ETF Issuers Amend S-1 Filings, Eyeing July Launch

Last updated: June 22, 2024

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Spot Ethereum ETF Issuers Amend S-1 Filings, Eyeing July Launch

Highlights:

All eight spot Ethereum ETF applicants have submitted S-1 amendments detailing fees and seed investments.
VanEck set its fee at 0.20% following Franklin Templeton’s announcement of 0.19% last month. Other issuers have not yet disclosed their fees.
Analysts predict that Ether ETFs could potentially launch around July 2nd.

All eight asset managers submitted revised proposals for an Ethereum (ETH) exchange-traded fund (ETF) to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on June 21. These filings provided additional information on seed investments and fee structures.

VanEck, Franklin Templeton, BlackRock, 21Shares, and Invesco Galaxy Digital released an updated S-1 registration statement Friday afternoon. Grayscale Investments filed an amended S-3 registration statement for its Ether Trust and an additional S-1 statement for its mini ETH Trust. Earlier in the day, Fidelity also submitted a new S-1 form to the regulator. Bitwise amended its S-1 registration statement earlier this week.

All spot eth ETF S-1 amendments are now IN…

Bitwise, Fidelity, 21Shares, Grayscale, Franklin, VanEck, iShares, & Invesco.

Known fees so far are Franklin (0.19%) & VanEck (0.20%).

Now we wait for SEC. https://t.co/7Uo4kIOQg8

— Nate Geraci (@NateGeraci) June 21, 2024

Spot Ethereum ETF S1 Amendments and Fees

Last month, the SEC approved 19b-4 forms for eight Ether ETFs. Issuers are now awaiting approval of their S-1 statements before trading can commence. Earlier this year, the SEC approved several spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs with fees ranging from approximately 0.21% to 0.39%. However, Grayscale’s GBTC carries a higher fee of 1.5%

So far, two of the applicants have revealed fees. On Friday, VanEck’s filing disclosed a 0.20% management fee for its Ethereum ETF. This aligns closely with competitors like Franklin Templeton, which revealed a 0.19% management fee earlier in March. The world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, has not yet disclosed the management fees for its iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA). Eric Balchunas, senior Bloomberg ETF analyst, believes that because of the low fees, BlackRock will also announce sponsor fees below 0.30%.

Balchunas stated on X:

“VanEck is in and so is their fee, which will be 0.20%, which is pretty damn low, right around Franklin’s 0.19%. Adds a touch of pressure on BlackRock to stay under 30bps at least. So far looks like Eth gonna be as low or even lower fees than btc.”

VanEck is in and so is their fee, which will be 0.20%, which is pretty damn low, right around Franklin's 0.19%. Adds a touch of pressure on BlackRock to stay under 30bps at least. So far looks like Eth gonna be as low or even lower fees than btc. pic.twitter.com/YfyM2FB5SF

— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) June 21, 2024

Applicants Disclose Seed Investments

Some firms disclosed their seed investments recently on Friday. 21Shares US LLC, sponsor of the 21Shares Core Ethereum ETF, acquired 20,000 shares and invested $340,739 on June 18, the firm said in its amended filing. Fidelity announced that its seed capital investor, FMR Capital, bought 125,000 shares at $37.99 per share on June 4, contributing $4.7 million to the trust.

Grayscale revealed a $100,000 seed investment in its mini Ethereum Trust. On May 31, the sponsor acquired 10,000 shares at $10 per share. Meanwhile, Invesco Galaxy reported a $100,000 seed transaction, where the investor bought 4,000 shares at $25 per share on June 17. Franklin Templeton also revealed a seed investment of $100,000 in its amended filing for the Franklin Ethereum ETF.

Spot Ethereum ETF Expected To Launch By July 2

On June 14, Balchunas predicted that spot Ethereum ETFs would probably start trading on July 2. The ETF analyst suggested that the SEC might expedite the process due to light comments on S-1 filings and the upcoming July 4 holiday weekend. In an X post on June 21, Balchunas reaffirmed his prediction for July 2. He wrote, “We holding the line with July 2nd as our over/under for eth ETFs launch date.”

Next step: we will see a bunch of amended S-1s filed today, prob later this afternoon. Then ball's in SEC's court to let issuers know about any final changes and effectiveness (aka final approval). We holding the line with July 2nd as our over/under for eth ETFs launch date. https://t.co/EmqCVsE0Qe

— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) June 21, 2024

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Syed Ali Haider

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