Bloomberg analyst sees July 18 as “best guess” for ETH ETF launch amid S-1 amendments

ethereum (eth) Spot ETF applicants have amended their registration statements while Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas has predicted a launch date.

In twitter.com/EricBalchunas/status/1810416604389539880″>July 8thBalchunas said his “best guess” for the fund’s launch is July 18, but declined to make a plus/minus prediction as the SEC’s plans remain unclear.

Balchunas described the changes in the latest amendments as minimal. He commented on two of the earlier submissions:

“Nothing to see here.”

Balchunas said the SEC had asked applicants to submit their applications by today, but did not require them to declare fees. He outlined the next steps toward approval saying:

“(The SEC) will soon give issuers guidance along with the action plan. Then the documents will come back with the fees (and all the other blanks) and then it will be time to act.”

The latest S-1 and S-3 amendments address the ability of asset managers to issue ETFs, unlike the previously approved 19b-4 filings that allow exchanges to list and trade the funds at launch.

Documents include information on exemptions and seeds

Six asset managers (BlackRock, Fidelity, Grayscale, 21Shares, Franklin Templeton, and VanEck) submitted amendments today. Bitwise submitted its amendment on July 3.

Franklin Templeton added details of the initial investment, stating that seed investor Franklin Resources Inc. purchased 4,000 shares at $25 per share for a total of $100,000 for the fund.

VanEck said its trust earned 2,929 eth from the proceeds of the seed basket sale, while BlackRock said its trust had purchased 3,031 eth with the proceeds. In previous filings, VanEck and BlackRock reported initial seed capital investments of $100,000 and $10 million, respectively.

VanEck added an exemption, stating that it intends to waive sponsorship fees for the first $1.5 billion for one year, following an earlier announcement. Bitwise introduced a six-month exemption for $500 million. Franklin Templeton’s amendment maintained the six-month exemption for $10 billion in its previous filing.

Applicants did not add any new sponsorship fees.

In an adjacent development, VanEck announced that Cboe has filed a proposed 19b-4 rule change for listing and trading of its Solana (SOL) spot ETF. The update does not impact the company’s Solana S-1 filing, which it filed on June 27.

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