With Ether ETFs, Coinbase Gains More Power. Now, Let’s Talk Concentration Risk.
Plus, talk of a Klarna IPO picks up after the BNPL giant turned in a strong first quarter.
Number of the Week: $165 million (explanation below)
With Ether ETFs, Coinbase Gains More Power. Now, Let’s Talk Concentration Risk.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong is undoubtedly enjoying a small victory lap since the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved rule changes (otherwise known as 19b-4 forms) for CBOE, Nasdaq and NYSE to list eight U.S. spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
The crypto exchange will serve as custodian for at least six of the investment firms that have filed applications to offer ether ETFs, including BlackRock, Invesco, Franklin Templeton, Bitwise, Grayscale and 21Shares.
The regulatory about-face is notable: As recently as one month ago, the approval of spot Ether ETFs was far from a forgone conclusion, with many experts predicting the SEC would not make a decision until later this year or early 2025.
Looking to capitalize on the regulatory momentum, BlackRock, Grayscale, Fidelity, Franklin Templeton, VanEck and Invesco wasted no time filing amended S-1 forms for their spot ether ETF applications with the agency. In the revised filings, BlackRock disclosed $10 million in capital from a seed investor who bought 400,000 shares at $25 and will act as a “statutory underwriter,” according to Decrypt. Grayscale, whose parent company is Digital Currency Group, revealed it had chosen Coinbase as its custodian, and Franklin Templeton plans to charge a 0.19% sponsor fee.
