Grayscale files amended registration statement for its spot Ethererum fund

Grayscale Investments is the latest issue to update its registration statement for its proposed Ethereum fund, adding language on the treatment of ether and how much the trust holds of it.

Grayscale filed its amended S-3 registration statement on Thursday, a day after BlackRock filed its amended S-1 statement and a week after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved 19b-4 forms for eight Ethereum exchange-traded funds. 

The crypto asset manager included new language in the updated filing about how much ether would be needed to create a basket of shares.  

"As of May 28, 2024, the number of Ether required to create a Basket of 100 Shares is approximately 0.94552590 Ether and the number of Ether required to create a Basket of 10,000 Shares after giving effect to the Amended Trust Agreement would have been 94.552590 Ether," the latest filing read. 

More registration statements are expected to be filed as the SEC has asked issuers to hand in their drafts by Friday, sources told The Block. Trading of the ETFs won't happen until the registration statements become effective.

Grayscale moved to convert its Ethereum trust to a spot ether ETF in October last year. The Grayscale Ethereum trust was launched in March 2019 and is the largest ETH investment vehicle in the world, according to its filing. Grayscale noted that as of March 31, the trust holds about 2.5% of Ether in circulation.

Ether's status

Since the approval of spot Ethereum ETFs last week, some in the crypto industry were left wondering whether ether would still be considered a security and under the SEC's jurisdiction. Some, including Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal, said ether is no longer a security. 

Grayscale addressed the treatment of ether in its latest filing. 

"Other U.S. and state agencies, such as the SEC, have not made official pronouncements or issued guidance or rules regarding the treatment of Ether, although the SEC, by action through delegated authority approving exchange rule filings to list shares of trusts holding Ether as commodity-based exchange-traded products, has implicitly taken the view that Ether is a commodity," Grayscale said.