Eric Balchunas, the senior ETF strategist at Bloomberg has reported that Volatility Shares is all set to launch the Ether Strategy ETF (Ticker: ETHU) two months from now on October 12, 2023. This will make ETHU the first ETF to offer Ether-linked exposure to institutional clients in the United States.
Stuart Barton, the CIO of Volatility Shares noted: “Volatility Shares successfully launched the first 2x Bitcoin-linked ETF (BITX) in July and believes that ETHU is the next logical step before turning our forces to spot markets”.
VolatilityShares announcing they intend to list their Ether Futures ETF on Oct 12th (which would be a day or two ahead of the rest of pack (if the 75 days is adhered to).. they did same thing w $BITX pic.twitter.com/hhFtk32f4X
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) August 15, 2023
Note that Volatility Shares still need to get a nod from US Securities and Exchange Commission on their submitted application. But Eric Balchuinas believes that the chances of approval could be high. He noted:
“Well, there’s been no withdrawals so SEC looks to be ok with them, but re the date, he did file first so he would normally go out first. but SEC may want to group them, he’s prob just pushing the envolope like he did w BITX”.
Volatility Shares filed for its Ether Strategy ETF last month on July 28. Considering the 75 days timeline for the approval, it could come around October 12.
Race for Ether Futures ETFs
Some of the top financial institutions have joined the race for the Ether Futures ETFs. A total of six entities have filed an application with the US SEC which includes names such as Bitwise, VanEck, Roubhill, ProShares, and Grayscale. So far, the SEC hasn’t approved any Ether Futures ETF in the market.
Furthermore, Bitwise has also revised its application for Bitcoin Strategy Optimum Roll ETF into Bitcoin and Ether Equal Weight Strategy ETF. This highlights the growing demand for Ethereum Futures ETFs in the market.
Earlier this month, Bloomberg ETF strategist Eric Balchunas noted that there are higher chances of Ethereum Futures ETFs coming before a spot Bitcoin ETF.
Bloomberg analysts have raised the likelihood of the US SEC granting approval for a spot Bitcoin ETF this year from 50% a few weeks ago to 65%. However, they estimate the probability of an Ethereum ETF approval at 75%. Balchunas, on the other hand, holds a strong belief in a 95% chance of approval for Ether futures.
