Volatility Shares Cancels ETH Futures ETF Launch, Says ‘I Don’t See Opportunity At This Time’

Volatility Shares, a financial firm that offers a variety of exchange-traded fund (ETF) products, has canceled plans to launch an Ether (ETH) futures ETF on October 2, citing changes in the market.

The company's founder and president, Justin Young, confirmed the cancellation in an email with Cointelegraph:

“You're right – we didn't start today. We didn't see the opportunity this time.

However, when asked if the company still plans to launch the ETH Futures ETF at a later date, Yang replied, “Of course,” adding, “The plans are TBD.”

Ether Futures ETFs track the prices of ETH futures contracts – agreements to trade the asset at a specified time and price in the future. Basically, they allow investors to participate in ETH trading, without having to actually hold any currency.

Related: SEC Continues to Delay Decisions on Crypto ETFs: Law Decoded

Volatility Shares was previously set to be the first firm to offer an ETH futures ETF. The United States Securities and Exchange Commission is expected to approve the first such product on October 12, but it was previously reported that the threat of a US government shutdown on October 1 prompted the SEC to approve the schedule.

As of October 2, several firms have begun trading ETH futures ETFs, including Valkyrie, VanEck, ProShares, and Bitwise.

As a group for Ether Futures ETFs, slightly under $2M, normal for a new ETF but low for $BITO (which made $200M in the first 15 minutes). Narrow competition bt VanEck and ProShares in single eth lane. pic.twitter.com/F9AHtrVcVf

— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) October 2, 2023

As Scientelegraph's Turner Wright recently wrote, “Good or bad accounts for digital assets are stalled at closing time, and financial regulators, including the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, operate on skeleton staff.”

In an indirect way, the U.S. government managed to avoid a shutdown by passing a stopgap measure that would have funded the service until Nov. 17, when the Senate voted 88-9 to pass the measure. US President Joe Biden immediately signed it.