Ethereum
Grayscale CEO Says Spot Ethereum ETF Is Still on the Table
A day after Grayscale withdrew its candidacy for the Ethereum Futures ETF, CEO Michael Sonnenshien said they haven’t given up yet. He said Grayscale would continue to focus on converting its Ethereum Trust (ETHE) into a spot Ethereum ETF. This is the same path they followed in converting their GBTC Bitcoin Trust into a spot Bitcoin ETF.
Grayscale and its Spot Ethereum ETF ambitions
Speaking at the Financial Times event on Wednesday, Sonnenshein said: “At Grayscale, we have decided to focus our energy on our spot products. It’s truly at the heart of our DNA.”
Commenting on the removal of the Ethereum futures ETF app, the Grayscale CEO said he did so because several futures products are already available in the market today.
VanEck’s EFUT and ProShares’ EETH are emerging as dominant players in the extremely competitive Ethereum futures ETF market, collectively controlling over 90% of total trading volume. “Sometimes we submit a product request. That doesn’t necessarily mean it will be commercialized,” Sonnenshein said.
Grayscale along with other major financial giants like VanEck, Blackrock, Fidelity and Ark Invest, have petitioned the SEC to introduce a spot Ethereum ETF to the market. However, just two days ago, the SEC delayed its decision on the Invesco Galaxy Ethereum ETF to July.
Crypto market enthusiasts have been eagerly awaiting the launch of Ethereum Spot ETFwith the first deadline approaching May 23. However, market analysts have not been optimistic about SEC approval due to the fact that Ethereum’s “security” status remains unclear.
Mini Grayscale Confidence
Grayscale has submitted paperwork to introduce a mini-trust, which is a smaller fund initially funded with assets from its larger trust. Craig Salm, Grayscale’s Chief Legal Officer, highlighted that the Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust is designed to complement the company’s existing suite of Ethereum-based products, meeting the diverse needs of investors.
During Wednesday’s discussions, Sonnenshein expressed uncertainty about the SEC’s stance on Ethereum. However, he expressed Grayscale’s optimism that the SEC will put investors’ interests first. He added:
“Grayscale Ethereum Trust is already an SEC reporting company. We file the 10-K and 10-Q [disclosures to the SEC]and we have always been a company that pushes our regulators to allow crypto to be brought further and further into the regulatory scope.