SEC works with Ethereum ETF issuers on S-1 Form

Fox Business journalist Eleanor Terret said Thursday that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has begun discussions with Ethereum exchange-traded fund (ETF) issuers regarding S-1 registration forms. She cited sources who said there was still “work to do” regarding these documents.

While this can be seen as a positive development, it does suggest that there may have been a delay in communication earlier.

🚨New: I've heard that conversations regarding S-1s are now starting to happen between the two countries. @SECGov The staff and publisher came to the conclusion that there was “work to be done.”

— Eleanor Terrett (@EleanorTerrett) May 22, 2024

In a separate post, Terret suggested that the SEC may approve the 19b-4 filing today and enter into an S-1 Form partnership with the issuer in the weeks or months that follow.

Commenting on Terrett's post, Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seifert said that after much effort, the Spot Ethereum ETF's S-1 filing could be resolved within a few weeks, though he noted that the SEC may need additional time to complete the S-1 review process.

“If they work very hard, I think they can get this done within a few weeks, but historically there are many instances where this process has taken longer than three months,” Seifert suggested.

Most ETF issuers, including big names like Fidelity, Bitwise, Grayscale, VanEck, Ark21Shares, Franklin Templeton, and Invesco, filed amended 19b-4 filings earlier this week. Nasdaq also resubmitted BlackRock's proposed Ethereum ETF yesterday.

The clock is ticking as the market awaits the SEC’s ruling on the Ethereum spot fund.

Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas expects the SEC to make an announcement on the fate of these ETFs around 4pm ET. Decisions on the spot Bitcoin ETF have previously been announced a little earlier than the designated date.

My guess is that we'll hear from the SEC tomorrow around 4 p.m. For spot BTC, they dropped it at 3:45pm, but others in the past have been a little past 4pm. Whatever you have https://t.co/MzTOcsmTnJ

— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) May 22, 2024

Meanwhile, the price of Ethereum has risen 25% in the past seven days and is trading near $3,800 at the time of writing, according to data from CoinGecko.

Experts predict that potential approval of the Spot Ethereum ETF could trigger a spike in prices. However, it remains unclear whether Ethereum will be able to replicate Bitcoin's price movements after the spot fund is approved.