On Thursday, the registration of an “iShares Ethereum Trust” on the website for Delaware’s Division of Corporations revealed that BlackRock is taking initial steps toward an Ethereum Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF). This mirrors the company’s filing for a Bitcoin ETF, the “iShares Bitcoin Trust,” in June.
As BlackRock has yet to provide an official statement regarding its plans for an Ether ETF, the cryptocurrency community and investors eagerly await more information. In response to the news, the price of Ethereum (ETH) experienced a 7% increase and reached a value of over $2,000. This surge echoes Bitcoin’s price movements when asset managers began pursuing ETF launches throughout the summer.
While the increasing acceptance of cryptocurrencies within the financial industry is evident, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has not yet approved a Bitcoin ETF. Despite the court ruling in August which overruled the SEC’s previous decision to block Grayscale’s attempts to convert its Bitcoin trust into an ETF, the SEC maintains the authority to potentially halt Grayscale’s conversion or other Bitcoin ETF proposals. If the SEC does approve Bitcoin ETFs, it is expected that Ether ETFs could follow suit due to Ethereum being the second most popular cryptocurrency.
