Bitcoins
- Cboe BZX has proposed allowing Fidelity’s Ethereum Fund (FETH) to stake its ETH, potentially offering the 3.3% APR staking rewards to ETF holders pending SEC approval.
- Franklin Templeton has filed for an XRP ETF on the Cboe BZX Exchange, joining other applications that Bloomberg analysts give a 65% chance of approval despite SEC legal disputes.
- The SEC recently delayed decisions on multiple crypto ETFs including the Canary and Grayscale XRP ETFs as well as the 21Shares ETH staking application, with new deadlines extending to May.
- Bitwise has launched the Bitcoin Standard Corporations ETF (OWNB) tracking companies with significant Bitcoin holdings, featuring Michael Saylor’s MicroStrategy as its largest component.
Despite a shaky crypto market, there is still plenty of movement in the exchange-traded fund (ETF) sector.
Avalanche (AVAX) is set to get its very own fund, pending approval, while Ethereum ETF holders can potentially start earning staking rewards, XRP gets another ETF application and Bitwise is going to offer exposure to corporate Bitcoin holdings.
Ethereum Staking Via ETFs Coming to Second Largest Fund
First up, ETH holders are getting another good reason for considering an Ethereum ETF. So far, staking has been absent from the US Ether funds, but securities exchange Cboe BZX is looking to change that.
The proposal would allow the Fidelity Ethereum Fund (FETH) to “stake, or cause to be staked, all or a portion of the Trust’s ether”, a filing shows.
Anyone currently holding ETH and earning staking fees of 3.3% APR might not have considered an ETF, but this method provides access to the compounding effects of ETH.
Related: Crypto Poses Insolvency Risk as Desperate Aussies Take On Risky Investments And Loans
After BlackRock’s ETHA fund, FETH is the second most successful of the ETFs, raking in over US$975.44 million (AU$1.5 billion) in net assets as of the time of writing.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) still needs to approve the scheme; similarly, 21Shares is looking to implement staking like Fidelity’s fund, which has also been recently delayed by the commission.
Franklin Templeton XRP ETF Filing Joins Growing List
XRP is next, and the popular coin is also receiving some good news. Financial and ETF heavyweight, Franklin Templeton, has just announced plans for a spot ETF on the Cboe BZX Exchange.
The SEC recently acknowledged four XRP ETF filings, which, while not a guarantee of approval, still indicates progress for the fourth-largest cryptocurrency.
According to Bloomberg analysts, the chance for approval of an XRP ETF is currently at 65%, largely held back by the ongoing legal tussle with the SEC.
However, just this Tuesday the SEC announced it would delay decisions about the Canary XRP ETF and the Grayscale XRP ETF. The regulator now has until May 21, to “either approve or disapprove, or institute proceedings to determine whether to disapprove, the proposed rule change”.
The SEC also delayed decisions on several other altcoin ETFs and the mentioned ETH staking for the 21Shares application.
According to Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart, such delays are not unusual and “is standard procedure”.
Bitwise ETF Tracking Firms with Substantial BTC Holdings
BTC is also getting attention, as Bitwise launched an ETF with a basket of companies holding Bitcoin.
Related: Ripple Eyes $16 Trillion in Value for Tokenisation on XRP Ledger and RLUSD
The fund is called Bitwise Bitcoin Standard Corporations ETF (OWNB), and will track the Bitwise Bitcoin Standard Corporations Index which is a “new equity index of companies with at least 1,000 bitcoin in their corporate treasuries”.
Unsurprisingly, the largest holding will be Michael Saylor’s Strategy (MSTR), MARA Holdings (MARA), CleanSpark (CLSK) and Riot Platforms (RIOT).
Aaron Feuerstein Read More