Ether ETF applications flood the SEC as ProShares files the 11th

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission has been recently inundated with applications for Ether (ETH $1,834) futures exchange-traded funds (ETFs), with a grand total of 11 Ether-based filings being submitted in less than a week. 

The latest ProShares ETF application was filed on Aug. 3 and proposes an equal weight Bitcoin (BTC $29,196) and Ether ETF. According to the filing, the fund will track “the performance of holding long positions in the nearest maturing monthly bitcoin and ether futures contracts.”

According to Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart, fund manager ProShares has now lodged a total of four separate filings for Ether-based ETFs within the last few days, including a dual Bitcoin and Ether futures strategy ETF, a short Ether strategy ETF and an Ether strategy ETF.

The last seven days has seen a total of 11 Ether-related ETF filings, all of which have been for futures ETFs. The wave of Ether-based ETF applications was kicked off by Volatility Shares lodging its filing for the Volatility Shares Ether Strategy ETF on July 28.

Following hot on Volatilty’s heels came Bitwise Asset Management, Roundhill Financial, Van Eck, ProShares and Grayscale Investments, which all filed new Ether futures applications on Aug. 1.

Notably, the SEC has never approved an ETF that tracks Ether futures contracts. On the other hand, Bitcoin futures ETFs have been around since October 2021.

If the SEC does not deny any of the applications, the Ether ETFs will launch 75 days from their respective filing dates, with Volatility Shares ETF being the first to launch on Oct. 12.

The key difference between futures and spot ETF products is that the former tracks the price of futures contracts while the latter actually involves the issuer purchasing the underlying asset. Spot ETFs are widely viewed as more valid as they involve the fund manager buying and holding the underlying asset.

The flurry of Ether-focused applications comes in the wake of a frenzy of filings from major asset management firms seeking to launch spot Bitcoin ETFs. The world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, is among those looking to offer what would be the first spot Bitcoin ETF in the United States.