BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, filed an application with federal securities regulators on Nov. 15 to offer a spot ethereum exchange-traded fund.
Ethereum is the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, behind bitcoin.
The S-1 registration statement filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for the iShares Ethereum Trust comes on the heels of a 19b-4 filing by Nasdaq – where BlackRock plans to list the new ETF if it is approved – on Nov. 9.
According to the filings, crypto exchange Coinbase would serve as the custodian for the ETF's ether holdings, and an unnamed entity would be the custodian for the trust's cash holdings – a slight divergence from BlackRock's bitcoin ETF plans, which name Coinbase as the crypto custodian and Bank of New York Mellon as the cash custodian.
BlackRock filed its application for a spot bitcoin ETF in June, sparking a wave of applications for similar products from other asset managers including Bitwise, Wisdom Tree, and Invesco.
While the SEC has approved bitcoin and ethereum futures ETFs, the agency has been reluctant to approve spot products, rejecting all past applications and delaying a decision on the current wave of applications, including BlackRock's.
BlackRock had $9.1 trillion in assets under management as of Sept. 30.
