• BlackRock leads Ethereum ETF approval by updating Form S-1, marking significant progress.
• Hashdex and Vanguard have either withdrawn their applications or decided against launching spot Ether ETFs.

June could see the final approval of Ethereum [ETH] exchange-traded funds (ETFs) as BlackRock becomes the first to update a key filing necessary for launch.

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a directive for various institutions interested in launching their Ethereum ETFs, to update their 19b-4 and S-1 filings.

Previously, the SEC approved the rule 19b-4 forms for eight Ether ETF applications, including those from BlackRock (BLK), Fidelity (FNF), Grayscale, ARK Invest, VanEck, Invesco Galaxy, and Franklin Templeton.

BlackRock’s bold move 

On the 29th of May,  BlackRock finally updated its Form S-1 for its iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA) with the SEC, nearly a week after the regulator approved its 19b-4 filing. 

Commenting on the same, Eric Balchunas, Senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg, noted in his recent post on X, 

Adding to the fray was James Seyffart, research analyst at Bloomberg, who said, 

“This is almost certainly the engagement we were looking for on the S-1’s following the 19b-4 approvals. Issuers and SEC are working towards spot Ethereum ETF launches.”

However, not everyone took a step forward in the ETH ETF approval process. Hashdex, another issuer seeking approval for a spot Ether ETF, withdrew its application shortly after the SEC’s approval.

A similar pattern was observed with Vanguard, as highlighted by Nate Geraci, President of The ETF Store in his latest tweet. He said, 

“No surprise, but Vanguard will NOT be offering spot eth ETFs on its brokerage platform…”

What’s the price situation?

Amid hopes of Ether spot ETF approval, ETH was trading at $3,769, reflecting a 2.45% decline at the time of writing. 

This was further confirmed by AMBCrypto’s analysis of Santiment data on investor sentiment. The results indicated that negative sentiment was rising while positive sentiment was decreasing.

Optimistic outlook persists 

Despite prevailing negative sentiments around Ethereum, Jaret Seiberg from TD Cowen’s Washington Research Group recently noted,

“This (ETH ETF approval) comes about six months faster than we expected…yet this decision was also inevitable once the SEC approved crypto futures ETFs.”

He added, 

“The next step could be an ETF with a ‘basket of crypto tokens’.” 

Therefore, as we await the full and final approval of the ETH ETF, it will be interesting to watch the shifts in sentiment within the SEC, especially regarding SEC Chair Gary Gensler, who’s known for his anti-crypto stance.