Ethereum ETFs have made landfall in the US trading markets following regulatory approval and subsequent issuing by the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE).
The approval and issuing of Ethereum ETFs is a milestone moment in the cryptocurrency sector, both in the US and globally. The development will broaden the pool of investors in the crypto space, enabling a wider range of people to gain a stake in the sector by investing in Ether (ETH), the native cryptocurrency built on the Ethereum blockchain.
Launch was announced on 22 July via a notice signed by David Bottom, Chief Information Technology (CIO) at the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The letter stated that NYSE Arca had approved the listing and sale of Ethereum ETFs.
NYSE Arca is a stocks and options trading exchange based in Chicago, which has operated under the umbrella of the New Yew Stock Exchange (NYSE) since a merger in 2006. Following Arca’s approval of Ethereum ETFs, the CBOE subsequently added five new issues to its site.
These are the iShares US LLC ETF (CETH), Fidelity ETF (FETH), Franklin Templeton ETF (EZET), Invesco ETF (QETH) and VanEck ETF (ETHV). All five Ethereum ETFs have begun trading on the CBOE today.
ETFs, exchange-traded funds, are collections of assets that can be traded similarly to stocks. ETFs can enable investors to buy stakes in various markets across different asset classes to diversify their portfolios.
The opening up of Ethereum ETFs marks a significant moment for global crypto by enabling individuals to invest in Ether, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency, with less cost and associated risk than purchasing a coin outright.
This could lead to an increase in the value of crypto as a whole by opening the sector up to a broader range of investors, as well as the value of Ether specifically. The approval and issuing came several months after the SEC first approved Bitcoin ETFs, which led to similar effects.
In the aftermath of the SEC approval, Bitcoin’s value skyrocketed to its highest level since 2021. The coin’s value was further driven upwards by the Bitcoin halving event in April.
Blackrock and Greyscale, a financial investment firm and crypto asset manager respectively, have been two of the most vocal voices in favour of Ethereum ETFs. The aforementioned CBOE and NYSE, along with Nasdaq, have also been proponents.
The final approval of the Ethereum ETF launch and issuing by CBOE will likely come as welcome news for Blackrock and Greyscale. Jay Jacbos, Blackrock’s US Head of Theomatics and Alternative ETFs, shared his views in a video circulated via the House of Chimera blockchain research and advisory group’s X (formerly Twitter) account.
“Investor interest in Ether has been expanding as more people adopt digital assets,’ he said, explaining the reasoning behind Blackrock’s launch of the iShares Ethereum Trust ETF.
As stated above, Ethereum is the world’s second most traded and most valuable cryptocurrency. Whilst it still has some way to go in taking over Bitcoin’s lead – this could be seen as an impossible task given Bitcoin’s massive global dominance of cryptocurrency – value and interest in ETH will likely continue to rise from here on out.