At least six firms filed for ether futures exchange-traded funds over the past few days, marking the latest wave of excitement as the industry waits with bated breath to see if the Securities and Exchange Commission will approve pending requests for spot bitcoin funds.

While the SEC has yet to approve a spot fund based on the world's largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, it has approved funds based on bitcoin futures, which might make the proposed ether applications seem like less of an ask.

The recent applications for ether future funds include Ether Strategy ETF, Bitwise Ethereum Strategy ETF, Roundhill Ether Strategy ETF, Ethereum Strategy ETF, Proshares Ether Strategy ETF and Grayscale Ethereum Futures ETF. The most recent, Direxion Bitcoin Ether Strategy ETF, would give …