SEC told spot Ethereum ETF issuers to get first round of draft S-1 forms in by Friday: sources

The march to get the spot Ethereum ETFs approved for trading is well underway, with all eyes on the S-1 forms.

After the 19b-4 forms were approved on May 23, the only remaining step is for the S-1 forms to become effective before trading can begin. However, since the approvals resulted from a last-minute change in direction from the SEC, the S-1 forms were not prepared in advance. Yet progress is now being made.

The SEC asked issuers to hand in their draft S-1 filings by Friday, according to two sources familiar with the situation. After this, the SEC will provide its first round of comments, which will lead to further amendments.

The day the ETFs were approved, VanEck handed in an amended version of its S-1 form, wasting no time. On May 30, BlackRock followed suit, detailing that its ETF would be seeded with $10 million.

However, the details of the seed investments are fairly straightforward for an issuer to include, one source told The Block, implying that other aspects of the forms might take longer to address. They said they expect the S-1 forms to go through at least two more rounds of draft filings before they will be ready.

Analysts anticipate that the S-1s will take a few weeks to be turned around, potentially a few months, if the process goes slowly. But some traders argue the delay might be a good thing.