Bitwise Says SEC Open To ETFs Beyond Bitcoin, Ethereum As ETH ETFs Near The Finish line

Updated: 10 July 2024

Disclosure

Don’t invest unless prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment, you shouldn’t expect to be protected if something goes wrong.

Join Our Telegram channel to stay up to date on breaking news coverage

Bitwise says the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been open to discussions regarding crypto ETFs (exchange-traded funds) beyond just Bitcoin and Ethereum as the launch of spot ETH ETFs inches closer.

“We’ve actually dialogued with the SEC about the possibility of what’s coming down the pipe with new products,” Bitwise’s chief compliance officer Katherine Dowling said in a July 9 interview with Bloomberg. “I think our communication with the SEC about the prospects for these products has actually been quite welcoming.”

Still, she added that additional approvals are unlikely unless Gary Gensler is replaced as SEC Chair in January.

Ethereum ETFs Close To Going Live In The US

Dowling also said she believes that eight U.S. spot ETH ETFs could soon begin trading.

“We’re seeing in the S-1 amendments that there are fewer and fewer issues that are being vetted back and forth between issuers and the SEC,” she said in the Bloomberg interview. “We’re close to the finish line on the launch.”

Bitwise Chief Compliance Officer Katherine Dowling discusses her firm's Ether ETF application and the potential for new products tied to crypto https://t.co/hKIvliRCnX pic.twitter.com/PvMFeG4wWU

— Bloomberg Crypto (@crypto) July 9, 2024

Following the SEC’s approval of several 19b-4 filings on May 23, spot ETH ETF applicants have been waiting for the agency to sign off on their S-1 registration statements. Amended versions of these forms were submitted at the start of the month after the SEC issued its first round of feedback.

Bitwise CIO “Excited” For A Product That Lets Investors Buy Into Ethereum DeFi

Bitwise has shown interest in offering its own exchange-traded product (ETP) that covers Ethereum’s growing ecosystem of layer-2 networks and decentralized applications, according to the asset manager’s chief investment officer, Matt Hougan.

“I’m somewhere between embarrassed and excited with the fact that Bitwise doesn’t have one, because I do think that would be a great product,” Hougan said in a May interview.

He added that he has “extraordinary confidence” that the Ethereum ecosystem will evolve and grow. An ETH-focused ETP will also allow investors to “own” a portion of all of the current and future decentralized applications on the Ethereum blockchain, Hougan said.