On Thursday, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) granted approval for the listing of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tied to the price of Ether by Nasdaq, CBOE, and NYSE.
This decision potentially paves the way for the products to become available for trading later this year.
While the ETF issuers still need to receive approval before launching the products, the SEC’s approval on Thursday was a surprising victory for these firms and the cryptocurrency industry as a whole.
Nine issuers, including VanEck, ARK Investments/21Shares, and BlackRock (BLK.N), are hopeful to introduce ETFs linked to Ether following the approval of Bitcoin ETFs by the SEC in January, a significant moment for the industry.
Andrew Jacobson, the vice president and head of legal at 21Shares, expressed excitement at the approval and acknowledged that it was an essential step towards making these products available for trading.