Grayscale, BlackRock Ethereum ETF applications updated amid SEC delays

Grayscale Investments and BlackRock have updated their spot Ethereum ETF applications despite the SEC delaying its decision on the matter in recent weeks and expectations leaning toward rejection.

Grayscale filed an S-3 registration statement with the SEC on April 23. The submission marks the latest step toward the firm’s proposed conversion of its existing Grayscale Ethereum Trust to a spot exchange-traded fund (ETF).

Grayscale referred to the submission as “another key filing,”  along with NYSE Arca’s earlier Form 19b-4 filing.

Grayscale also filed an S-1 registration statement for a mini Ethereum ETF, a counterpart to its proposed mini Bitcoin ETF. The SEC has not yet approved either mini ETF.

Meanwhile, Nasdaq amended BlackRock’s 19b-4 filing to include a proposed rule change through which the exchange intends to list and trade shares of BlackRock’s planned iShares Ethereum Trust.

The update proposes cash-based creation and redemptions instead of in-kind creations and redemptions. This aligns the proposed fund with competing Ethereum ETF applications and previously approved spot Bitcoin ETFs.

Decision due in May

The SEC has punted the deadlines on several Ethereum ETFs in recent weeks and is expected to decide on the applications simultaneously in May.

Expectations around Ethereum ETF approvals are at an all-time low. Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, who initially said the odds of approval stood at 70% earlier in the year, updated his prediction to “a very pessimistic 25%” chance of approval.

Polymarket reports an 11% chance that the SEC will approve an Ethereum ETF by May 31, represented as betting odds.

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