Asset management giant BlackRock has further solidified its plans to launch an exchange-traded fund (ETF) for Ethereum.
In a filing with the Nasdaq stock exchange on Thursday, BlackRock outlined its proposal for an “iShares Ethereum Trust” that would allow investors to gain exposure to Ethereum’s price movements through a traditional stock exchange.
The price of Ethereum jumped 10 percent following the news, blowing past $2,100, a threshold not seen since April, according to CoinGecko. Indeed, the last time ETH was this high was in May 2022, during the long crash that began in November 2021.
ETH is now up more than 30% for the month, and a solid 85% up over one year ago.
The filing comes as BlackRock also registered a trust for Ethereum in Delaware, a move analysts saw as a precursor to applying for regulatory approval of an ETF.
An Ethereum ETF would allow retail investors to gain exposure to the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization without having to directly hold the asset. It could potentially open the door for billions of dollars of new investment.
The filing states that the fund’s shares would trade under the ticker “ETH” and closely track the price of Ethereum held by the trust. BlackRock subsidiary iShares would act as the sponsor.
It is not yet clear when BlackRock intends to formally apply to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for approval of the ETF. The regulatory agency has rejected several proposals for spot Bitcoin ETFs amid concerns over potential manipulation.
But the SEC recently approved the first U.S. Bitcoin futures ETFs, seen as a step towards acceptance of funds holding the digital assets themselves. Last month, the agency also allowed the first Ethereum futures ETFs to begin trading.
