Six prominent asset managers, including Grayscale, ProShares, and VanEck, have submitted new applications to the SEC to offer Ethereum Futures exchange-traded funds (ETFs) to U.S. investors.
Separate applications from Grayscale, VanEck, BitWise, Volatility Shares, ProShares, and Round Hill Capital are detailed in filings reviewed by Cointelegraph that were submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The filing by Grayscale contains two applications: a Grayscale Global Bitcoin Composite ETF and a Grayscale Ethereum Futures ETF. The Ether ETF offered by Grayscale will invest in futures contracts that will be traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
The SEC filing indicates that Grayscale’s fund will invest predominantly in “front-month” Ether futures, which have “the shortest time to maturity.” Grayscale added that it intends to “roll” expiring Ether Futures contracts.
Volatility Shares also announced intentions to list an Ethereum Futures exchange-traded fund, which would invest its assets in cash-settled contracts referencing ETH trading on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. It is specified that the fund will not actively invest in Ether.
Volatility indicates in its filing that it intends to purchase cash-settled Ether Futures Contracts. Typically, in cash-settled futures markets, the counterparty pays the buyer cash if the price of a futures contract rises, while the buyer pays the counterparty if the price of a futures contract falls.
The filing from VanEck also indicates that its investment strategy will seek to invest in ETH Futures contracts so that the value of ETH to which the fund is exposed equals 100% of the fund’s total assets.
The filing indicates that any fluctuations in the price of ETH would have a more significant impact on VanEck’s Ether ETF fund. This includes the possibility of “larger losses than if the Fund’s exposure to the value of ETH were unleveraged.”
ProShares described their Short Ether Strategy ETF, which will invest in daily contracts seeking to profit from declines in the S&P CME Ether Futures index.
As previously explained, the ProShares fund would gain as much as the index loses on any given day and vice versa.
These applications follow recent applications from mainstream asset management firms seeking to establish Bitcoin exchange-traded funds. BlackRock, the largest asset manager in the world, is among those seeking to launch the first Bitcoin ETFs in the United States.
