Ether the Ether: VanEck releases two ETF ads ahead of possible Monday launch

September 29, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Once Ethereum futures ETF and spot Bitcoin ETF applications get approved, there will be a marketing war like we've never seen says, Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas.

Investment manager VanEck has fired up the marketing engine for its “upcoming” Ethereum futures exchange-traded fund (ETF), which some analysts expect could be launched as early as Oct. 2.

On Sept. 28, VanEck released the two “Enter the Ether” themed TV commercials, revealing that its Ethereum Strategy ETF — tickered EFUT — is “coming soon.”

AI, AI, Uh Oh! Follow for updates on how to Enter the Ether. pic.twitter.com/wM69nVtbWC
— VanEck (@vaneck_us) September 28, 2023

The commercials came on the same day VanEck published a press statement about its upcoming EFUT, stating it will be listed on the Chicago Board Options Exchange and be managed by Greg Krezner, VanEck’s Head of Active Trading.

Bloomberg ETF analysts Eric Balchunas and James Seyffart believe the TV ads could hint that Ethereum futures ETFs are “happening sooner than expected.”

Seyffart expects VanEck’s new ETF to launch on Monday despite a Sept. 29 document stating it won’t take effect for another 60 days. “Our understanding is that the SEC is accelerating approvals for these things,” he said.

Quick correction: they actually won't be effective until Friday. Still, same result: Monday launch.
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) September 28, 2023

Enter the Ether

The first of VanEck’s “Enter the Ether” advertisements is a rather short and quirky 15-second video featuring five actors looking at the camera with a deadpan expression and strange alien-sounding music in the background.

“Ethereum. Now in an ETF form. Coming soon,” says an actor.

“Oh and HODL or Fork Off,” says another actor, before the “Enter the Ether” message appears and the ad ends.

The second ad appears more straightforward, with a 30-second spot suggesting that a “shift” is coming soon and that Ethereum’s gravitational pull “will draw everyone in.”

When you’re ready, ENTER THE ETHER. The VanEck Ethereum Strategy ETF ($EFUT) is coming soon. Read our press release: https://t.co/4QPOVd5nB2 pic.twitter.com/vSF3HzMuvC
— VanEck (@vaneck_us) September 28, 2023

Balchunas expects more marketing efforts from ETF issuers as ETFs get approved, particularly when spot Bitcoin ETFs get the greenlight.

“It will be a marketing war like we've never seen since they all do same thing and launch on same day. Unprecedented.”

Meanwhile, financial services firm Valkyrie told Cointelegraph that it will also soon begin offering exposure to Ether through its existing Bitcoin Strategy ETF — making it one of the first firms to do so amid several pending applications with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

On Sept. 28, Seyffart said in an X post that it was “looking like the SEC is gonna let a bunch of Ethereum futures ETFs go next week potentially,” spurred by a potentially imminent U.S. government shutdown.

There are 15 Ether futures ETFs from nine issuers vying to launch.

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Nasdaq’s Hashdex mixed Ether ETF filing joins crypto ETF race

September 13, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

Known as the Hashdex Nasdaq Ethereum ETF, this investment fund is the first filing for futures and spot Ether holdings under the ‘33 Act and is overseen and supervised by Toroso Investments.

The Nasdaq stock exchange has submitted an application to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) seeking approval to list an Ethereum Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) offered by Hashdex, an asset management company. This ETF is designed to include a combination of spot ether holdings and futures contracts in its portfolio and pioneering a new approach to cryptocurrency investment within the regulatory framework.

Known as the Hashdex Nasdaq Ethereum ETF, this investment fund is the first '33 Act Ethereum futures filing of futures Ethereum under the ‘33 Act and is overseen and supervised by Toroso Investments. Toroso Investments is registered as a commodity pool operator with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and is also a member of the National Futures Association.

The current surge in cryptocurrency ETF applications has placed significant emphasis on whether the proposed funds intend to include futures contracts or spot assets. While the SEC has granted approval for the former, the latter remains unapproved. Fund managers appear to be exploring a middle-ground option, testing their chances in this regulatory landscape.

The primary investment goal of the Hashdex fund is to ensure that its shares mirror the daily fluctuations in the Nasdaq Ether Reference Price. To achieve this objective, the fund intends to allocate its assets to investments in ether, ether futures contracts traded on the CME, as well as cash and cash equivalents. Nasdaq said in the 19b-4 form:

"Instead of holding 100% spot Ether, which could make it more susceptible to price manipulation in the spot market, the Fund will hold a mix of Spot Ether, Ether Futures Contracts, and cash,"

The Fund aims to decrease its reliance on the spot market and address worries regarding potential manipulation in unregulated Ether spot exchanges by including Ether Futures Contracts and cash in its holdings, it elaborated.

Hashdex joined the competition for a spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund in the United States. However, Hashdex’s approach differs from recent filings as it won’t depend on the Coinbase surveillance sharing agreement, opting to acquire spot Bitcoin from physical exchanges within the CME market.

In the previous week, both Ark Invest and 21Shares submitted applications to the SEC for a spot ether ETF, a type of ETF also being pursued by VanEck. The SEC has thus far deferred its determinations on all the applications it has received for spot cryptocurrency funds.

Collect this article as an NFT to preserve this moment in history and show your support for independent journalism in the crypto space.

Magazine: Crypto regulation: Does SEC Chair Gary Gensler have the final say?

Grayscale urges SEC to approve all Bitcoin ETFs simultaneously

July 28, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Bitcoin

Grayscale's ETF was previously knocked back by the SEC and it wants it and competing ETFs approved together so none have an advantage.

Crypto fund manager Grayscale is urging the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to approve all proposed spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) at the same time to avoid one having an advantage.

A July 27 post by Grayscale chief legal officer Craig Salm said its legal team submitted a letter regarding eight spot Bitcoin ETF filings — including its own — arguing the SEC shouldn’t pick “winners and losers” and instead make a fair and orderly decision.

The letter claimed the SEC could approve the spot ETFs based on its approvals for Bitcoin futures ETFs saying the two fund types are “inextricably linked.”

Grayscale added recent surveillance sharing agreements (SSAs) between Coinbase and the spot ETF providers are “not a new idea” and claimed they would not meet the SEC’s standards.

The SEC should approve spot #bitcoin ETFs to trade in the US.
What’s more, their previous approval of bitcoin futures ETFs shows that they are already in a position to do so.
Read more about the latest from our legal team: https://t.co/UC8ksqNcwy $GBTC $BTC
— Grayscale (@Grayscale) July 27, 2023

ETF filings from Invesco, BlackRock, Valkyrie, VanEck, Wisdom, Fidelity and ARK Invest were recently updated to include SSAs with Coinbase.

Coinbase would share information on its trading books and other information so the SEC can monitor any possible market manipulation or irregular trading activity.

In late June SEC pushed back on the ETFs due to there being no SSAs, saying they were needed due to what it claimed was the potential for crypto markets to be manipulated.

Grayscale claimed, however, that the SSA’s “would neither satisfy nor be necessary” under the SEC's standards as Coinbase isn’t registered with the SEC as a securities exchange or broker-dealer nor with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as a futures exchange.

It added approving the ETFs would be “a positive but sudden and significant change” in the SEC's application of its standard and would “improperly grant an unfairly discriminatory and prejudicial first-mover advantage to these proposals.”

The Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC), which aims to track Bitcoin’s price, has nearly 1 million investors, Salm claimed.

He said if it's converted to an ETF it would return billions in value to investors, adding there’s “simply no reason” the SEC should keep GBTC investors from a spot Bitcoin ETF.

The SEC denied Grayscale’s application to convert the GBTC to a spot Bitcoin ETF last June.

In response, Grayscale sued the regulator saying it was acting arbitrarily by “failing to apply consistent treatment to similar investment vehicles.

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Grayscale CEO: BlackRock ETF filing a ‘moment of validation’ for Bitcoin

July 12, 2023 Coin Telegraph

blackrock

BlackRock’s commitment to advancing its crypto efforts only lends to the validity of Bitcoin as an asset class, said Michael Sonnenshein.

The recent tsunami of spot Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) filings should be seen as a “moment of validation” for Bitcoin, says Grayscale Investments CEO Michael Sonnenshein.

During a July 12 interview on CNBC’s Last Call, Sonnenshein rejected the notion that BlackRock’s entrance to the Bitcoin ETF race made it “uncool.”

“To see, literally, the largest asset manager in the world publicly commit to advancing their crypto efforts only lends to the validity of the asset class and the staying power it has.”

In just the last four weeks, at least seven major institutional firms including BlackRock have applied for a spot Bitcoin ETF in the United States.

"It's a moment of validation," says @Grayscale CEO @Sonnenshein on $BLK aiming to launch a $BTC spot ETF. "To see the largest asset manager in the world publicly commit to advancing their crypto efforts only lends validity to the asset class and the staying power that it has." pic.twitter.com/agt7emHWt0
— Last Call (@LastCallCNBC) July 11, 2023

If approved, both institutional and retail investors in the U.S. would have a simple, legally compliant way of getting exposure to the price of Bitcoin without actually owning any.

“The ETF wrapper is tried and true and it has become the access point for so many different assets, whether they’re commodities or stocks,” said Sonnenshein.

“Bitcoin is an asset that’s not going away. Investors want and deserve access to it.”

Up until this point, Sonnenshein’s Grayscale has been offering U.S. investors a roundabout way of gaining exposure to Bitcoin — by enabling investors to trade shares in trusts holding large pools of Bitcoin via its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC).

Today, our attorneys filed a letter with the DC Circuit highlighting the disparity between the SEC’s approval of a leveraged #bitcoin futures ETF while continuing to deny approval of spot bitcoin ETFs like $GBTC. Let’s dive deeper. /6 pic.twitter.com/z7WyGBthhT
— Grayscale (@Grayscale) July 10, 2023

However, the firm wants to convert it to a spot Bitcoin ETF too, which would allow inventors a far simpler method to trade the price of Bitcoin without GBTC’s pesky discount to net asset value.

“To be able to give investors Bitcoin exposure through GBTC, like we do today has been an unbelievable milestone [...] But moving to an ETF structure will give investors the additional protection that they want.”

In June 2022, Grayscale filed a lawsuit against the United States Securities and Exchange Commission over the rejection of its 2021 application to convert its GBTC.

“If we’re successful in that challenge, there’s actually billions of dollars of investor capital that would be unlocked through that,” said Sonnenshein.

The price of Bitcoin shot upwards of 20% in the days after BlackRock’s filing for a spot Bitcoin ETF on June 15, reaching a year-high of $31,460 on July 6. It is currently trading at $30,633.

Magazine: Should you ‘orange pill’ children? The case for Bitcoin kids books

Cboe refiles 5 Bitcoin ETFs to include Coinbase surveillance agreements

July 12, 2023 Coin Telegraph

21shares

The surveillance-sharing agreements are a measure recommended by the SEC in March, which says they can prevent fraud and protect investors.

Exchange operator Cboe Global Markets has amended five spot Bitcoin (BTC) Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) applications to include a surveillance-sharing agreement (SSA) with Coinbase.

On July 11, Cboe amended filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for the ETFs from Invesco, VanEck, WisdomTree, Fidelity and the joint fund by ARK Invest and 21Shares.

Cboe said it had "reached an agreement on terms with Coinbase" to enter into the SSA's which were settled on June 21. The initial filings for the ETFs stated the parties were "expecting to enter" an SSA prior to potentially offering the ETFs.

The SSAs are an attempt to meet the SEC's standards aimed at preventing fraudulent conduct and protecting investors, as outlined by the regulator on March 10:

“[An exchange needs] a comprehensive surveillance-sharing agreement with a regulated market of significant size related to the underlying or reference bitcoin assets.”

Spot Bitcoin ETF applications have been a focus point for the industry lately. The filings by Fidelity, Invesco, Wisdom Tree and Valkyrie follow the $10 trillion asset management firm BlackRock which also filed an ETF for SEC approval.

On June 29, the U.S. stock exchange Nasdaq also refiled its application to list BlackRock's ETF, similarly inclusive of an SSA with Coinbase.

Cboe's filings pushed Coinbase (COIN) shares up nearly 10% on June 11, the highest price it's reached since August 16, according to Google Finance.

*Coinbase’s share price jumped nearly 10% with the latest SSA-related filing amendments. Source: Google Finance*

Despite the involvement with Bitcoin ETF applications, Coinbase is currently battling out a lawsuit with the SEC for allegedly offering cryptocurrencies the regulator considers to be unregistered securities.

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‘The Great Accumulation’ of Bitcoin has begun, says Gemini’s Winklevoss

June 22, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Anthony Pompliano

With spot Bitcoin ETFs filings helping boost the price of Bitcoin, some suggest the “window to front-run institutional demand is closing.”

Recently renewed optimism for an approved Bitcoin (BTC) spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) is igniting “The Great Accumulation Race” for Bitcoin, according to industry pundits.

Over the past week, Fidelity, Invesco, Wisdom Tree and Valkyrie have followed investment giant BlackRock in applying for a Bitcoin spot ETF with the United States Securities Exchange Commission, which some analysts believe is the reason for Bitcoin’s 19% price surge to $30,240 since June 16.

5 Bitcoin ETF applications in 5 days!
- Blackrock
- Fidelity
- Invesco
- Wisdom Tree
- Valkyrie
— Lark Davis (@TheCryptoLark) June 21, 2023

Cameron Winklevoss, the co-founder of cryptocurrency exchange Gemini, stated on June 21 that he believe“The Great Accumulation” of Bitcoin has begun between institutions and retail investors.

He suggested that buying Bitcoin prior to the ETFs hitting the public market is akin to that of a pre-Initial Public Offering purchase and suggested that the “floodgates” for buying Bitcoin are “closing fast.”

The Great Accumulation of bitcoin has begun. Anyone watching the flurry of ETF filings understands the window to purchase pre-IPO bitcoin before ETFs go live and open the floodgates is closing fast. If bitcoin was the most obvious and best investment of the previous decade, this…
— Cameron Winklevoss (@cameron) June 21, 2023

MicroStrategy Chair Michael Saylor weighed in on the subject in his own post, suggesting that retail investors may soon be pushed aside by increasing institutional demand:

“The window to front-run institutional demand for Bitcoin is closing.”

Bitcoin is currently trading hands for $30,240, while the Crypto Fear and Greed index has skyrocketed from 49 (Neutral) to 65 (Greed) in just the last two days.

*Bitcoin Fear and Greed Index at 65 as of June 22. Source: Alternative.me*

In a June 21 interview with CNBC, Bitcoin investor Anthony Pompliano said he expects a tug-of-war to play out between retail investors and Wall Street:

“We have institutions and individuals scrambling to try to get their share of the 21 million Bitcoin that will ever be in existence. The retail investor for 15 years now has a head start and has accumulated all the Bitcoin that’s been mined and put into circulation, but 68% of that hasn’t moved in a year.”

“People forget that bitcoin went from $0 to nearly $1 trillion market cap with almost no institutional participation,” said Pompliano in a June 21 Twitter post.

So when “Wall Street and BlackRock show up to the market,” Pompliano expects Bitcoin to become “highly illiquid” because retailers “don’t want to sell to Wall Street,” he added during the CNBC interview.

BlackRock shows up and bitcoin is up 20% for the week.

People forget that bitcoin went from $0 to nearly $1 trillion market cap with almost no institutional participation.

If retail investors were good for $1T, what do you think happens when the deep pockets come play?
— Pomp (@APompliano) June 21, 2023

Meanwhile, Dylan LeClair, a Bitcoin analyst and founder of 21st Paradigm explained that Bitcoin’s price is now “extremely inelastic” — “more so than ever” — amid the recent ETF filings, which are serving as a “catalyst” for large amounts of new flows into the market.

However, LeClair predicts that no ETF application will be approved by the SEC until January or February 2024 at the earliest.

Bitcoin's supply is extremely inelastic, more so than ever currently.

A spot ETF is obviously a catalyst for a large amount of new flows to come into the market, which not only has changed the narrative but has prompted others to front run said future flows.

TLDR: Send it. pic.twitter.com/Jd8Gm8o3Mx
— Dylan LeClair (@DylanLeClair_) June 21, 2023

Magazine: Hall of Flame: William Clemente III tips Bitcoin will hit six figures toward end of 2024

Coinbase CEO responds to SEC suit, says team is ‘confidant’ in facts and law

June 6, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Brian Armstrong

In a social media post, Brian Armstrong said he thinks the SEC’s rules are unclear and that the courts need to make rulings to clarify them.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has responded publicly to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit against his company, stating in a tweet that the team is “confident in our facts and the law” and that it welcomes the chance “to finally get some clarity around crypto rules” in court.

Regarding the SEC complaint against us today, we're proud to represent the industry in court to finally get some clarity around crypto rules.

Remember:
1. The SEC reviewed our business and allowed us to become a public company in 2021.
2. There is no path to "come in and…
— Brian Armstrong ️ (@brian_armstrong) June 6, 2023

The SEC filed suit against crypto exchange Coinbase on June 6, alleging that the company has been operating a securities exchange, broker-dealership and clearing house without registering with the commission. In its filing, it argued that 13 different cryptocurrencies sold by Coinbase fit the definition of securities, including Cardano (ADA), Solana (SOL), Polygon (MATIC), Filecoin (FIL) and others.

In his Twitter response, Armstrong claimed that the lawsuit against Coinbase is “very different from others out there,” as it is “exclusively focused on what is or is not a security.” This makes the team “confident in our facts and the law.” He claimed that the U.S. government can’t even agree with itself as to which cryptocurrencies are securities, as “the SEC and CFTC [Commodity Futures Trading Commission] have made conflicting statements.”

Armstrong expressed hope that court proceedings will allow crypto exchanges to “finally” get clarity on how to comply with securities laws. He also praised recent attempts by Congress to pass crypto legislation, stating that “this is why the US congress is introducing new legislation to fix the situation."

The response from Armstrong is the latest in a series of legal filings and public statements between the exchange and the SEC since March.

Coinbase received a Wells notice from the SEC on March 22 stating that the regulator may pursue enforcement actions. In response, the exchange issued a statement from its legal team on April 19 claiming that the SEC’s possible enforcement was not “supported by law or within the bounds of the Commission’s authority.”

A Wells notice does not begin legal proceedings. It only serves to notify a firm of a potential lawsuit.

On April 25, Coinbase’s legal team went on the offensive by preemptively filing suit against the securities regulator. In the lawsuit, it alleged that the SEC had failed to provide clear rules for crypto exchanges in a timely manner, including rules that distinguish between cryptocurrencies that are or are not securities. The SEC responded by arguing for dismissal on May 5, and Coinbase filed a mandamus reply in support of its suit against the SEC on May 23.

Because Coinbase filed its suit against the SEC on April 25 and the SEC filed suit against Coinbase on June 6, both organizations are now embroiled in two separate legal proceedings against each other.

Mainstream media renew push for non-US FTX user identities

May 4, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Bankruptcy Code

A May 3 filing to the United States Bankruptcy Court brings new objections to a motion that aimed to redact customer identities.

Four media outlets in the United States have continued efforts to get the identities of non-U.S. FTX customers revealed, filing new objections to a previous motion to seal their identities.

Bloomberg, Dow Jones, The New York Times and the Financial Times first filed a motion objecting to FTX and the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors being authorized to redact and withhold customer information on Jan 11.

While the court previously had heard similar arguments by the four firms, the May 3 filing made a new objection to the Committee’s motion to seal the identities of non-U.S. customers.

*The four media firm’s most recent filing against FTX and the Committee. Source: Kroll.*

The media outlet's most recent argument is that there is no legal basis to redact the names pursuant to non-U.S. data privacy laws.

The media giants argued that under section 105 of the Bankruptcy Code — the provision which grants the bankruptcy court judicial power — there is no part that permits foreign law to override the right of access to information under U.S. constitutional and statutory law:

“At bottom, Movants desire to avoid ‘enforcement of the public disclosure requirements of U.S. bankruptcy law’ [...] furnishes no basis for sealing.”

“The law of the United States — constitutional and statutory — guarantees the public a strong presumptive right to inspect bankruptcy filings. That right cannot be abrogated by a party’s assertion of legal obligations under foreign law,” the media firms added.

The first argument raised — which was claimed in an earlier filing — was that the names of FTX’s creditors do not constitute “confidential commercial information.”

The second — also raised in an earlier filing — is that such disclosure wouldn’t subject the creditors to “undue risk.”

FTX and the committee have until May 4 at 4:00 pm Eastern Time to submit an objection.

The hearing date for the filing will take place on May 17 at 1:00pm.

Magazine: Can you trust crypto exchanges after the collapse of FTX?

FTX seeks to claw back $4B from Genesis in a battle of the bankrupt

May 3, 2023 Coin Telegraph

FTX seeks to claw back B from Genesis in a battle of the bankrupt

Bankruptcy

The bankrupt crypto exchange wants to recoup billions from the bankrupt crypto lender claiming it was “instrumental” to FTX’s “fraudulent” business model.

Cryptocurrency exchange FTX is seeking to recover around $4 billion from similarly bankrupt crypto lender Genesis and a still-solvent British Virgin Islands-based entity — part of efforts to recover value for creditors.

In a May 3 court filing in a New York Bankruptcy Court, lawyers for FTX sought $1.8 billion in loans and a $273 million collateral pledge allegedly given to Genesis from FTX’s sister trading firm Alameda Research.

FTX is also seeking to claw back $1.6 billion in withdrawals allegedly made by Genesis and a further $213 million purported to be withdrawn by its BV-based entity GGC International from the exchange before it collapsed into Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Nov. 11.

FTX moves to claw back $3.9 billion from Genesis.

1. $2.1 billion loan repayments/collateral pledge
2. $1.8 billion FTX exchange withdrawals pic.twitter.com/1SsW8yoPck
— FTX 2.0 shareholder (in spe) (@AFTXcreditor) May 3, 2023

The filing claims Genesis was “largely repaid” its nearly $8 billion in loans made to Alameda, “unlike other FTX creditors and customers.”

FTX alleged the bankrupt lender was “one of the main feeder funds for FTX and instrumental to its fraudulent business model.”

The exchange’s lawyers are seeking the clawback under bankruptcy laws that allow it to recoup “avoidable transfers” that occur in a 90-day period before a company declares bankruptcy.

Previous clawbacks by FTX have focused on $3.2 billion in payments made to its former executives, a $460 million investment made by Alameda into venture capital firm Modulo Capital and around $93 million in political donations made by founder Sam Bankman-Fried and other former top brass.

Crypto Twitter Hall of Flame: Gabriel Haines: Shirtless shitposting and hunting SBF on the meme streets

Former FTX CEO Seeks $10M Insurance Fund for Legal Defense, Request Opposed by FTX Debtors and Unsecured Creditors

March 30, 2023 Bitcoin.com

filing

Enter the Ether

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