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The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has acknowledged receipt of an application by asset management giant Fidelity to list a spot Ethereum exchange-traded fund (ETF), according to today’s SEC filing.
The filing from Cboe BZX Exchange proposes listing and trading shares of the Fidelity Ethereum Fund, structured as a commodity-based trust that would hold ether. The trust aims to track the performance of the Fidelity Ethereum Index, less expenses and liabilities.
Has been long known that Fidelity entered the spot ETF race but this filing *essentially* starts the ~240+ day clock for their spot #Ethereum ETF. Just another step in the process. Will have definitive deadline dates in the coming weeks https://t.co/0C6NKcxNNzpic.twitter.com/gdW9ZQDgs9
— James Seyffart (@JSeyff) November 30, 2023
The SEC has several Ethereum ETF applications under review that it must approve or deny, including filings by major financial firms BlackRock, ARK Invest, VanEck, Hashdex, Invesco, and Galaxy Digital Holdings.
Fidelity Digital Assets Services would serve as the regulated custodian for the trust’s ETH holdings. The filing argues that the CME Ether futures market is of significant size for surveillance-sharing purposes to meet SEC listing standards that aim to prevent fraud and manipulation.
The SEC has yet to approve a spot Bitcoin or ETH ETF in the US. However, the agency is reportedly preparing to allow simultaneous listings of spot-based Bitcoin ETFs in January. The Fidelity filing aims to make the case that an ether spot ETF should also receive approval.
The proposal starts a 45-day clock for the SEC to approve, deny, or extend the deadline. The SEC is now seeking public comments on the proposed rule change to list the Fidelity Ethereum Fund ETF.
ETH is trading flat -0.1% over the last 24 hours, according to Coingecko.