U.S. spot ETH ETFs delayed; SEC asks for resubmission of S-1 forms by July 8

According to Eric Balchunas, senior ETF analyst for Bloomberg, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has asked prospective spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) issuers to re-file their S-1 forms by July 8.

This would delay the launch of the Ethereum ETFs to mid-July or later, pushing it from its expected launch date of July 2. SEC chief Gary Gensler told the senate last month that spot ETH ETFs will be approved ‘this summer.’

The SEC has once again returned the forms, this time with “slight comments,” a source at an issuer told The Block. The issuers have to address the comments in the latest round of revisions. The source added that this may not be the final filing, indicating there might be more rounds of back-and-forth between the SEC and the issuers.

The approval of the S-1 forms is the second part of the process for the launch of spot Ethereum ETFs. The first part involved the 19b-4 forms, which received the green light from the SEC in May.

While there was a deadline for the 19b-4 forms, there aren’t any for the S-1 forms. This means that the launch of the spot ETH ETFs will depend on how long the SEC takes to review and approve the S-1 forms and announce the final filing date.

The last round of revision took place in June when the issuers updated their registration statements.

The updates included Franklin Templeton disclosing its sponsor fee of 0.19%. The issuer will also provide free trading for the first $10 billion assets for six months.

VanEck updated its filing to disclose a sponsor fee of 0.20%. It intends to waive the fee for the first $1.5 billion assets.

Some issuers also disclosed seed investments in the previous round. Invesco Galaxy announced a $100,000 seed investment on June 17, with the investor buying 4,000 shares at $25 each.

Grayscale revealed a similar $100,000 investment for its mini Ethereum trust, with the sponsor acquiring 10,000 shares at $10 each on May 31.

Fidelity’s seed capital investor, FMR Capital, purchased 125,000 shares at $37.99 each on June 4, contributing $4.7 million to the trust. Previously, BlackRock reported $10 million in seed funding for its ETF.