BlackRock appears set to propose a spot ether ETF

Update: BlackRock Thursday afternoon submitted a 19b-4 filing with Nasdaq, which is an SEC form to record rule changes. The filing noted that BlackRock intends to list and trade shares of the iShares Ethereum Trust on the Nasdaq exchange.

BlackRock could jump into the race for a spot ether ETF soon after the asset management giant proposed a bitcoin fund in June, a Thursday disclosure suggests.

A filing for an iShares Ethereum Trust appeared on the website for Delaware’s department of state Thursday.

The filing could signal the finance giant, which manages about $9 trillion in assets, plans to propose such an offering to the US Securities and Exchange Commission. It appears no formal proposal has been made to the regulator.

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A BlackRock spokesperson declined to comment.

BlackRock filed with the SEC to launch a spot bitcoin ETF on June 15. A disclosure for that planned iShares Bitcoin Trust, however, had appeared on Delaware’s website on June 8.

Ether’s price was at about $2,030 at 10:30 am ET — up more than 8% in the last 24 hours.

BlackRock would join several other issuers seeking to offer an ETF that holds ETH directly, including Ark Invest and 21Shares, as well as VanEck.

Grayscale Investments moved on Oct. 2 to convert its Ethereum Trust into a spot ether fund. Hashdex and Invesco also have filings in front of the SEC to launch spot ether products.

Updated Nov. 9, 2023 at 10:50 am ET: Modified for additional context.

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