Ethereum ETFs get final approval to trade in the US

The U.S. SEC has granted the final go-ahead for the first spot ETH ETFs in the United States. Trading is set to begin tomorrow, July 23. 

Today, July 22, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accepted the securities filings of several spot Ethereum (ETH) exchange-traded funds, clearing them for trading starting on Tuesday, as scheduled.

The SEC approved ETH ETF products from a total of eight issuers, including asset management giants Fidelity, Blackrock and VanEck, as well as 21Shares, Bitwise and others. 

The SEC first approved applications for the above ETH ETFs at the end of May, but firms were still waiting for their S-1 filings — the registration of new securities — to be approved in order for trading to officially start. Last week, the SEC informed issuers that they would need to finalize their S-1 documents by July 17 in order to receive approval for trading to start on July 23. 

How will the price of ETH react? 

A report from Kaiko Research published today suggested that the outlook for the price of ETH after the spot ETFs launch is unclear. The firm noted that when futures-based ETH ETFs launched last year, the demand was “underwhelming.”

The price of ETH has dropped about 2.5% over the past 24 hours, currently trading near $3,400. Earlier today, analysts from IntoTheBlock noted that the Ethereum price faces critical resistance around $3,500 levels.

In general, as with spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs, analysts — and the industry more broadly — see the launch of a spot ETF product as a bullish sign for wider adoption. Since ETFs are traded on traditional exchanges via brokerage accounts, a wider swathe of more traditional investors now have access to the two largest cryptocurrencies by market cap via a vehicle that they are already comfortable trading. 

First Bitcoin, now Ethereum

Spot Bitcoin ETFs were approved for trading in the U.S. in January and, since then, have seen record inflows. Since the launch of spot BTC ETF trading, the price of Bitcoin has increased almost 50%, currently trading near $67,700.