On May 22, 2024, with all the buzz going around the approval of ETH ETF, all the ETH ETF applicants, including BlackRock, Grayscale, Fidelity, VanEck, Ark 21, Invesco/ Galaxy and Franklin, submitted their amended form 19b-4 to the SEC. Ahead of spot ETF approval, all the applicants are doing their best to immediately list their instruments on the exchanges.
The applicants have submitted these amendments after receiving a last-minute amendment request from the Securities and Exchange Commission.
19b-4 Amendments
The majority of the amendments issued had a similar change, highlighting the removal of staking rewards. Moreover, the amendment document states all the major guidelines for the respective spot ETH ETF, including trading halts, trading rules and surveillance.
Invesco/ Galaxy
The amendment document compares the performance of futures ETH ETF products of the sponsor and expects similar growth from the spot ETH ETF.
Source: cboe.com, 19b-4, Invesco
The above image shows the growth in volume and open interest in ETH futures products.
The Galaxy/ Invesco filed for their ETH ETF in December 2023 and were expecting a final approval decision in July, which is subject to approval of spot ETH ETF by the SEC. The amendment was filed on May 21.
Fidelity Ethereum ETF
The 19b-4 amendment filing highlighted a perfect correlation between ETH spot and the CME ETH futures price based on historical data. It will be interesting to observe how the correlation will change after the launch of ETFs on spot Ethereum.
Source: cboe.com, Fidelity Form 19b-4
Fidelity has submitted two amendments to date. The first amendment was filed on March 18, while the second amendment was filed on May 21.
Ark 21 shares ETH ETF
The sponsor filed for the spot ETH ETF in September 2023, which was amended by the first amendment filed in February 2024. The final or second amendment was filed on May 21 to clarify certain trading and listing details and add additional required details to the proposal.
Source: CBOE.com, Form 19b-4, Ark 21
VanEck Ethereum ETF (ETHV)
The sponsor also officially filed for the ETH ETF in September 2023 and the first amendment was filed in February 2024 and the second amendment was filed on May 21.
Moreover, VanEck ETH ETF has been listed on DTCC to get listed on the exchanges immediately after the approval, as the final approval decision is scheduled for May 23.
| Trading Symbol | Trading CUSIP | ETF Security Description | ETF Agent | Foreign (F)/ Domestic (D) | Create/ Redeem |
| ETHV | 92189L103 | VANECK ETHEREUM TR SHS | 2950 | D | N |
Source: DTCC.com
Grayscale ETH
The Grayscale filed the first amendment in March and the second amendment in May.
Other applicants have also filed their amendments prior to the final approval of the ETH ETF. The approval of ETF is expected to boost the prices in the market and is building a positive outlook in the market for the supported altcoins.
At press time, Ethereum was trading at $3,740, 1.50% up in the 24 hours sustaining the surge, which occurred with the increase in probability of approval of ETH ETF from 25% to 75%.
