BlackRock took a step towards approval for its Ethereum ETF by revising its S-1 registration statement in a filing submitted on May 29th. The filing was based on the initial registration statement that BlackRock submitted in November 2023. Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart stated that this filing is a step towards launching the ETF after the SEC approved the 19b-4 listing rule change on May 23rd. Seyffart reiterated his belief that the S-1 statement could be approved in the coming weeks, facilitating the launch of the Ethereum ETF, but he also acknowledged that “under normal circumstances, it takes a few months to be approved.”
The S-1 filing filled in several placeholder fields, including details about the seed capital. According to the filing, the fund purchased 400,000 shares of seed capital at a price of $25 per share, resulting in $10 million in revenue. The iShares Delaware Trustee can charge up to $500,000 in fees annually, but the latest filing did not calculate the percentage-based trustee fees.
The trust fund will issue and redeem shares in units of 40,000, with the fund code being ETHA. Wilmington Trust National Association will serve as the Delaware trustee, while the Bank of New York Mellon will act as the trust administrator and cash custodian.
The new S-1 also reintroduced the possibility of in-kind creation and redemption, which would allow authorized participants to transact in crypto assets instead of cash. The fund acknowledges that the approval of in-kind transactions is not guaranteed and the timing is uncertain. The original S-1 statement from BlackRock also briefly mentioned the possibility of in-kind creation and redemption.
However, the amendment notice to the 19b-4 filing submitted by Nasdaq in April stated that authorized participants would rely solely on cash when creating and redeeming fund shares. The latest S-1 also explicitly states that BlackRock will not participate in Ethereum hard forks, aligning with the second amendment to the 19b-4 filing released by Nasdaq on May 22nd on behalf of BlackRock.
Currently, all other Ethereum ETF issuers have also removed the possibility of tracking from their applications.
