The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has granted initial approval for an exchange-traded fund (ETF) that combines Bitcoin and Ethereum, the first and second largest virtual assets.
On the 30th (local time), Bloomberg reported that the SEC quickly approved the Form 19b-4 proposal for a Bitcoin and Ethereum mixed ETF applied for by U.S. asset management firm Bitwise. The ETF is known to include Bitcoin and Ethereum spot assets based on a market capitalization weighting method. The fund structure is similar to existing ETFs that directly hold Bitcoin or Ethereum. It was approved about two months after the application was submitted last November.
However, this approval alone does not allow for transactions. Approval for the S-1 form, which can be considered a securities registration statement, must also be obtained for trading to occur, like other ETFs.
Recently, the SEC has begun to approve virtual asset-related ETFs applied for by several asset management firms. Last month, the SEC also approved a Bitcoin and Ethereum mixed ETF applied for by Hashedex and Franklin Templeton.
Since the inauguration of President Donald Trump, expectations for the approval of altcoin-based ETFs have been rising. Bitwise has also proposed an ETF tracking Dogecoin. Grayscale and CoinShares have completed applications for Litecoin, Solana, and Ripple-based ETFs.
Nathan Dean, senior analyst in policy at Bloomberg Intelligence, noted in a report, “Virtual asset investment firms are testing how far the SEC will go in granting approvals as they apply for ETFs with unique characteristics, including meme coin ETFs.”