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Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest and 21Shares Seek Approval for Inaugural Ethereum ETF

07 Sep 2023

Mitchell Nixon

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Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest has taken steps to establish the United States’ inaugural Ethereum ETF, as revealed in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday.

This ETF, named the ARK 21Shares Ethereum ETF, shares similarities with recent spot Bitcoin ETF applications, which the SEC postponed for further consideration following Grayscale’s legal triumph last week.

On September 6, in their filing, ARK Invest and 21Shares formally requested SEC approval for the listing of spot Ethereum ETF shares on the Cboe BZX Exchange. This investment vehicle, the ARK 21Shares Ethereum ETF, will enlist Coinbase as a custodian and will benchmark Ether’s performance against the Chicago Mercantile Exchange CF Ether-Dollar Reference Rate.

Following the decision on Grayscale’s ETF, the SEC announced, on August 31, a delay in its decision on spot Bitcoin ETF applications from seven different firms, including the world’s largest, BlackRock. 

We did an article on that here. 

Notably, the spot Bitcoin ETF application from ARK Invest and 21Shares was not part of this delay; its next deadline for approval, denial, or further delay is set for November 11.

While the SEC has received numerous applications for Ethereum ETFs based on futures contracts, ARK Invest’s proposal represents a significant step beyond that, considering that futures-based Bitcoin ETFs have been trading in the U.S. since ProShares’ launch on the New York Stock Exchange in 2021.

With two years having passed since the introduction of futures-based ETFs, it seems logical for Ethereum to make its debut on Wall Street in this format. There is growing anticipation that the SEC may approve a series of Ethereum futures ETFs, tracking the derivatives prices traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), as early as October.

We did an article on that here. 

Regarding futures-based Ethereum ETFs, the SEC has typically advised applicants to withdraw their applications approximately a week after submission. However, this time around, these applications remain on the SEC’s desk.

In its Wednesday application, Ark Invest proposed that the Cboe BZX Exchange’s ability to access information about activity in the CME’s Ethereum futures market should address concerns previously expressed by the SEC.