Greyscale Releases Ethereum Futures ETF App

Grayscale has taken the surprising step of filing its 19b-4 filing for its Ether (ETH) futures exchange-traded fund, three weeks before the securities regulator is required to rule on it.

The cryptocurrency asset manager filed a notice of termination of the Greyscale Ethereum Futures Trust with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission on May 7.

The SEC was scheduled to make a final decision on Greyscale's Ether Futures ETF on May 30.

Grayscale initially filed its 19b-4 filing for the Ether Futures ETF on September 19, 2023, which it will list on the New York Stock Exchange, if approved.

Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seifert initially believed that Grayscale planned to strategically use the Ether Futures ETF as a “Trojan horse” to get the SEC to approve the Ether ETF.

But Grayscale expressed confusion over why it's coming out now, more than two weeks away when the SEC is forced to make a decision on whether to approve or deny at least one spot ether ETF application on May 23.

Related: SEC Classifies Ether as Security, Bans Spot Ether ETFs – Michael Saylor

For months, Seifert and Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas had a 25% chance that the Ether ETF would be approved on May 23, down from 70% in January.

The SEC must make a decision on VanEck's application on May 23, and ARK 21Shares and Hashdex have deadlines on May 24 and May 30.

Applications from Greyscale, Invesco Galaxy, BlackRock and Fidelity are due in June, July and August. However, many industry analysts expect the securities regulator to rule on all or most of the applicants in the same way it did on Bitcoin ETFs in January.

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