US regulator approves 3 exchanges to list spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Thursday approved applications from three exchanges to list spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

The exchanges are the New York Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq and the Chicago Board Options Exchange.

The decision of rule changes will allow a total of eight companies to begin listing spot Ethereum ETFs, which are Grayscale, Bitwise, iShares, VanEck, ARK 21Shares Invesco Galaxy, Fidelity and Franklin.

"After careful review, the Commission finds that the Proposals are consistent with the Exchange Act and rules and regulations thereunder applicable to a national securities exchange," the SEC said in a statement.

The SEC's move, however, does not approve the eight firms' funds yet until they apply for their funds and get approval from the regulator, nor does it provide a date for the ETFs to start trading.

But, the approval is a significant milestone for the cryptocurrency industry as it paves the way for spot Ethereum ETFs to likely start being traded this year.

The SEC's rule change comes four months after it approved spot Bitcoin ETFs that allows investors, especially financial institutions, to trade Bitcoin without owning it.

Bitcoin ETFs saw inflows of more than $940 million over the past week, which now amounts to over $13 billion since the start of this year, according to capital market firm CoinShares.

The price of Ethereum, the world's biggest altcoin by market cap, was trading around $3,680 around 12.07 p.m. EDT (1608GMT) for a daily loss of 3.4%, but it rose 18.2% in the last seven days, according to data from CoinMarketCap, a digital asset price-tracking website.