The amendment concerns proposals from Fidelity and four others.
Cboe BZX filed amendment 19-b4 related to five spot Ethereum ETFs on May 21 , significantly increasing each fund's chances of approval.
The news coincided with a sudden spike in odds on Polymarket, which reported a 70% chance of approval on May 31, up from just 10% a few hours earlier.
Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart commented on the development, stating that the filing validates previous rumors and speculation.
He acknowledged that each applicant is “potentially a long way from launch,” as the SEC still has to issue an approval order on the 19b-4 filing, then the S-1 registration statement. As such, any fund may not launch for “weeks or more,” according to Seyffart.
Yesterday, Seyffart and his colleague Eric Balchunas increased the odds of approval to 75% amid reports of the upcoming amendments from their sources. Others, including FOX Business reporter Eleanor Terret, supported the report based on their own sources.
Five funds are in play
The Cboe BZX amendments concern proposals from Fidelity , VanEck , Invesco and Galaxy, Ark Invest and 21 Shares , and Franklin Templeton .
The latest amendments do not take into account all pending applications. Grayscale is separately aiming to convert its Ethereum Trust (ETHE) into a spot ETF on NYSE Arca, while BlackRock and Hashdex each intend to issue a spot Ethereum ETF on Nasdaq.
The SEC must decide on VanEck’s ETH ETF listing by May 23. However, the SEC may simultaneously approve several similar proposals with later deadlines.
Betting is impossible
The amendments also clarify key aspects of each ETH ETF. Each filing states that trusts, funds, sponsors, custodians, and other parties will not be involved in Ethereum staking.
Several previous applicants proposed staking but eliminated that possibility in subsequent S-1 statements.
The filing also confirms that each fund would use cash creation and redemption. In-kind creation and redemption, on the other hand, would allow some participants to transact in crypto — a possibility that was raised but rejected during the approval of the spot Bitcoin ETF .
Both factors are expected to influence the SEC's decision on an ETH ETF.
