Valkyrie Backs Off Ether Futures Purchases Until SEC ETF Approval Officially Effective

Valkyrie Friday morning said it will not purchase ether (ETH) futures until the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) approval of adding that vehicle to its Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BTF) is effective.

In an SEC Form 497 filing, the asset manager also said it would unwind any ether futures purchases it had already made.

The quick backtrack comes after the firm yesterday told CoinDesk (and others) it had begun adding ether futures exposure to the BTF after gaining SEC approval.

Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas tweeted that the unwinding of ether futures purchases from Valkyrie is an example of the SEC not wanting to be a “kingmaker via their policies and will do whatever they can to prevent someone from launching on their own like BITO [ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF] in 2021.”

Notwithstanding Valkyrie’s actions, it does appear that a number of ether futures ETFs will begin trading in the U.S. on Monday, with ProShares, Bitwise and VanEck among those confirming as much in SEC filings on Friday morning.

Valkyrie did not immediately respond to CoinDesk’s request for comment.

Correction (15:50 UTC, Sept. 29): Removes incorrect reference to assets under management at Valkyrie.