As many as 6 asset management firms in the U.S. have filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for issuance of ETFs based on Ethereum (ETH) futures. First to hit the market on July 28 is the Volatility Shares Ether Strategy ETF. The filing was soon followed by five other filings: The Bitwise Ethereum Strategy ETF, the VanEck Ethereum Strategy ETF, the Roundhill Ethereum Strategy ETF, the ProShares Short Ethereum Strategy ETF, and the Grayscale Ethereum Futures ETF were all filed with the SEC on Aug. 1. Grayscale is currently active in the Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETHE), with just over $3 billion in assets under management. It has a longer trading cycle and is trading at a steep discount to NAV, - 41.5% (as of August 1).

While the prospect of an Ethereum ETF followed a similar slew of new Bitcoin Spot ETFs and attracted a lot of attention, it’s worth noting that the road to approval has historically been a challenge. The SEC has yet to approve applications for ETFs tied to ETH futures contracts.

However, the expectations of the crypto community remain high, and if approved, the launch of these ETFs is scheduled to take place 75 days after the filing date. Volatility Shares, which submitted its application on July 28, is expected to win the competition and may prepare for the launch of the Ether ETF on October 12. The launches of other companies will follow suit.