Author: Mike Dalton, CryptoSlate; Translated by: Song Xue, Golden Finance
As revealed in an August 16 filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Valkyrie Investments has applied to establish an Ethereum futures exchange-traded fund (ETF).
According to the document, substantially all of the fund's assets will be invested in exchange-traded Ethereum futures, while a small portion will be invested in collateral investments such as cash, cash-like instruments or high-quality securities. The document text emphasizes that the fund's assets will not be invested in Ethereum (ETH) itself.
Valkyrie's filing suggests that the fund's investment capabilities may be limited by regulations set by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME). These limits currently limit ETH futures positions to 8,000 contracts per month. Each contract represents 50 ETH (currently $91,100). Valkyrie said that if these limits are reached, the fund may invest in longer-term futures contracts and additional collateral investments.
Valkyrie previously attempted to combine its bitcoin futures ETF, dubbed the “Bitcoin Strategy ETF,” with ethereum futures in a filing on Aug. 4. If approved, the filing would have Valkyrie consolidate the two investments and rename the fund accordingly starting Oct. 3.
The status of that application and its connection to the recent one has not yet been clarified in the document.
Interest in cryptocurrency ETFs is high
Ethereum futures ETFs have attracted widespread interest from asset managers this summer. In recent weeks, Volatility Shares, Bitwise, ProShares, VanEck, Roundhill, and Grayscale have all filed for Ethereum futures ETFs.
Meanwhile, there is also a wider interest in cryptocurrency ETFs, as Valkyrie and many other companies are also pursuing spot Bitcoin ETFs. Valkyrie filed its application with the SEC on June 21, a few days after asset management giant BlackRock did the same. As of now, no US company has been approved to offer a spot Bitcoin ETF, reportedly due to inadequate custody sharing agreements.
Valkyrie was also one of the first companies to launch a Bitcoin futures ETF in October 2021. It also offers a variety of other cryptocurrency-related investments.
