Breaking: Grayscale Withdraws Ether Futures ETF 19b-4 Filing

In a dramatic twist, Grayscale Investments has withdrawn the 19b-4 filing for its Ethereum Futures ETF. The news was brought to the fore by James Seyffart, Senior Bloomberg ETF Analyst, a development that is stirring new conversations.

Why Did Grayscale Back Down its ETF Push?

It remains unclear the rationale behind the withdrawal of the Ethereum Futures ETF from Grayscale. However, the general market outlook and the prospect of approval have kept many applicants and observers unenthusiastic.

Grayscale filed its application for this Ethereum Futures ETF in September last year. The filing comes after the victory the firm scored against the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the runup to spot Bitcoin ETF approval. The Grayscale’s Ether Futures proposal is one of the many related products that need approval from the regulator.

Idk why they'd do this honestly. In my mind might as well make the SEC write up an approval or denial for an ETH futures ETF and go from there? Maybe the SEC spoke with Grayscale about this… And whatever was said convinced Grayscale to withdraw? (This is a complete guess)

— James Seyffart (@JSeyff) May 7, 2024

After a couple of decision postponements, this withdrawal has introduced enough speculation. According to Seyffart, this withdrawal might be the firm’s way of shielding its main Spot Ethereum ETF application from any form of rejection. The analysts speculated that the SEC may try to play smart by approving a Futures ETF and denying a spot alternative.

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He speculated that the SEC might have spoken to Grayscale about the application. In his view, whatever the SEC said might have expedited the push to withdraw the application. The markets regulator is currently exploring avenues to classify Ethereum as an investment contract.

Should it succeed in achieving this feat, experts project it will solidify its resolve to deny all Ethereum ETF products. Some of the prospective issuers eyeing approval include BlackRock, Fidelity Investments, and Bitwise. Many of the applicants are riding on their successful spot Bitcoin ETF applications.

Spot Ethereum ETF: An Inevitable Product

Why the chances for possible denial are high, many industry innovators are mounting opposition to the SEC. ConsenSys, for instance, has filed a lawsuit against the markets regulator for its planned Ethereum securities classification. While it remains unclear where this lawsuit will end, the current projection is that a spot Ethereum ETF denial might trigger a series of lawsuits.

With lawmakers mounting opposition to the SEC’s claims of altcoin as securities, the complications in the ETF pursuit by Grayscale and its peers are just getting started.

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