VanEck Files for an Ethereum Exchange-Traded Fund

Exchange-traded fund (ETF) startup VanEck has filed for an ether-based ETF, public records show.

The company, which currently has a proposed bitcoin ETF under review by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed an ether ETF on Friday that would allow retail and institutional traders to gain exposure to the world's second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap without requiring them to directly invest in it.

VanEck intends to work with Cboe BZX Exchange on the offering. The same exchange is providing support for VanEck's proposed bitcoin ETF. The SEC has postponed any decision on VanEck's bitcoin ETF proposal to next month. In the past, the SEC has taken as much time as it legally can, about 240 days, to evaluate ETF proposals.

The federal securities regulator has yet to approve an ETF in the U.S.

If VanEck's proposal is approved, this would be the U.S.'s first ether ETF, but not the first in North America. Canadian regulators have already approved several ether ETFs. WisdomTree, another company hoping to launch a bitcoin ETF in the U.S., has also listed an ether exchange-traded product in Germany and Switzerland.