Two prominent crypto asset managers Grayscale Investments and Bitwise Asset Management have halted their Ether, Futures exchange-traded fund (ETF) schemes have come under increasing scrutiny from US regulators.
On May 17, Grayscale amended its filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to remove a reference to an ethereum futures ETF. The amendment comes less than a week after sharing plans to launch three ETF products. Two Other Flagship Products Include Semi -Spot Bitcoin, An ETF that will invest in the spot BTC market, as well as a privacy ETF focused on investing in privacy-focused blockchain companies and digital assets.
Grayscale's amendment to its ETF filing comes days after the SEC ordered the asset manager to withdraw its application for the Filecoin Trust. Regulators warn that its underlying asset Filecoin , qualify as securities. Grayscale responded to the SEC's allegations , claiming that the underlying assets did not Qualify as securities. The company "intends to respond promptly to the SEC staff explaining the legal basis for Grayscale's position."
Bitwise, on the other hand, has completely withdrawn its application to launch an ETH-based futures ETF. In an amendment filed with the SEC on May 17, the crypto asset manager asserted that it “has no intention of seeking the validity of the fund , nor has it sold or will sell the securities of the fund pursued to the above-mentioned post” – statement to trust registration effective correction.”
Bitwise had not responded to Cointelegraph's request for comment on the issue by press time. The debut of a Bitcoin-based futures ETF in the last quarter of 2021 has many in the crypto industry thinking that a spot crypto ETF is on the horizon. However, After two years and a string of cryptocurrency carnage in 2022, regulators are increasingly skeptical of such products.
