US investment firm WisdomTree has filed to withdraw its Ethereum Trust registration statement three years after filing it with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The move comes hours after fellow investment firm VanEck shut down its Ethereum futures ETF due to a lack of demand.
WisdomTree to Terminate Registration of Ethereum ETF
In a filing on September 6, WisdomTree asked the SEC to withdraw the Form S-1 registration statement for the exchange-traded fund known as the “WisdomTree Ethereum Trust.” The U.S. asset manager first filed the registration statement on May 27, 2021, seeking to launch an ETF that would offer investors exposure to Ethereum but with lower costs and liabilities.
A statement of the application said:
To achieve its investment objective, the Trust will hold Ether and value its shares daily based on the (CF Ether-Dollar US Settlement Price), which is an independently calculated value based on an aggregation of executed transaction flows from major Ether spot exchanges.
The “WisdomTree Ethereum Trust” was to trade on the Chicago Board Options Exchange (Cboe) with a proposed maximum aggregate offering price of $1,000,000.
Three years later, WisdomTree filed to withdraw the registration statement for this ETF and all relevant supporting documents. The asset manager states that no securities related to the filing have been/will be sold to investors. Additionally, WisdomTree has acknowledged that the filing fee for this registration statement, valued at $109.10, is non-refundable. They have also requested that this fee be used for future use.
As previously reported, WisdomTree’s announcement comes shortly after VanEck unveiled plans to close its VanEck Ethereum Strategy ETF (EFUT), an investment fund based on Ethereum futures contracts. According to VanEck, the decision is based on an analysis of several factors, including “performance, liquidity, assets under management, and investor interest.” Trading activity on EFUT will cease on September 16, followed by a liquidation of shares around September 23.
ETH Spot ETF Market Sees $6 Million Loss
In other news, the Ethereum spot ETF market saw an outflow of $6 million over the past day according to data from Farside Investors. The nascent market’s cumulative net flows now stand at -$568.5 million despite holding over 2% of the Ethereum market. Meanwhile, data from CoinMarketCap shows that Ethereum is trading at $2,237 after a 6.64% drop over the past day.
Featured image from Markets Insider, chart from Tradingview
