Source: Blockchain Knight
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) acknowledged the proposed rule changes for the ProShares Ethereum ETF and approved Ark Invest's application to exit 21 Shares on June 10.
The SEC's notice on ProShares shows that although it acknowledged the proposed rule changes, it did not approve them.
In response, the SEC must take action within 45 days of the proposal's publication, or choose to postpone it to 90 days. At that time, the agency must approve, disapprove, or initiate additional procedures to determine the outcome of the application.
This timeline may extend the launch date of ProShares beyond the launch dates of its competitors.
"Instinct initially said that no matter when, this ETF would not be launched on the first day with other ETFs, but who knows?" said James Seyffart, an ETF analyst at Bloomberg.
NYSE Arca aims to list and trade shares of the ProShares fund.
The SEC confirmed that 21Shares’ proposed fund can continue to operate without Ark Invest as the fund’s title and sub-advisor.
The agency waived its usual 30-day operational delay to make the changes effective on the filing date. It allowed the change to be made immediately because it would not have a significant impact on investor protection and would not burden competition.
Ark and 21Shares revealed that they had parted ways on the fund on May 31.
In a statement to Bloomberg ETF analyst Erich Balchunas, Ark said it “will not move forward” with the Ethereum ETF, but did not provide an apparent reason for the exit. Currently, the company is still involved in the spot BTC ETF ARKB.
Although the SEC approved the 19b-4 rule changes for eight spot ETH ETFs on May 23, the agency has not yet approved the applicants’ S-1 registration statements.
As a result, the applicants have not yet launched the products for trading, and there are no clear launch dates for the various spot Ethereum ETFs.
Balchunas believes the applications could be launched by the end of June, with an “out-of-date” date of July 4. JPMorgan believes the funds will begin trading in November.