Six major asset managers, including Grayscale and VanEck, have filed fresh applications in a bid to launch Ether (ETH) futures exchange-traded funds (ETF) to United States customers.
Separate filings submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission reviewed by Cointelegraph outline respective applications from the likes of Grayscale, VanEck, Bitwise, Volatility Shares, ProShares and Round Hill Capital.
We officially have 5 different #Ethereum futures ETF filings submitted to the SEC. Would love to know what has changed since May, other than the fact that someone (Volatility Shares) applied on Friday. ProShares went straight for the inverse/short ETF. https://t.co/Qi8he0OwrUpic.twitter.com/qVVUwrUjOI
Grayscale’s filing includes two applications: a proposed Grayscale Global Bitcoin Composite ETF and a Grayscale Ethereum Futures ETF. Grayscale’s Ether ETF will invest in futures contracts that are set to be traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
The SEC filing notes that Grayscale’s fund will primarily invest “front-month” Ether futures, which are contracts with “the shortest time to maturity.” Grayscale added that it intends to “roll” Ether futures contracts before they expire.
Volatility Shares also outlined plans to list an Ether futures ETF, investing its assets in cash-settled contracts referencing ETH trading on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. It’s noted that the fund will not invest directly in Ether.
Volatility’s filing also notes that it intends to enter into cash-settled Ether futures contracts as the buyer. Cash-settled futures markets typically see a counterparty pay cash to the buyer if the price of a futures contract goes up, while the buyer would pay the counterparty if the price of the futures contract goes down.
VanEck’s filing also indicates that its investment strategy will look to invest in ETH futures contracts so that the value of ETH that the fund has exposure to is equal to 100% of the total assets of the fund.
The filing notes that any changes in the value of ETH would result in larger changes to VanEck’s Ether ETF fund. This would include the potential for “greater losses than if the Fund’s exposure to the value of ETH were unleveraged.”
ProShares gave an overview of their Short Ether Strategy ETF, which will invest in daily contracts that look to profit on losses of the S&P CME Ether Futures index. As explained, the ProShares fund would gain as much as the index loses on a given day, while the converse would apply.
These applications come in the wake of recent applications from various mainstream asset management firms looking to launch Bitcoin ETFs. The world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, is among those looking to offer what would be the first Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs offered in the country.
Billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe has told Sky News that Britain is ready for a change of government after scolding the Conservatives over their handling of the economy and immigration after Brexit.
While insisting his petrochemicals conglomerate INEOS is apolitical, Sir Jim backed Brexit and spent last weekend with Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer at Manchester United – the football club he now runs as minority owner.
“I’m sure Keir will do a very good job at running the country – I have no questions about that,” Sir Jim said in an exclusive interview.
“There’s no question that the Conservatives have had a good run,” he added. “I think most of the country probably feels it’s time for a change. And I sort of get that, really.”
Sir Jim was a prominent backer of leaving the European Union in the 2016 referendum but now has issues with how Brexit was delivered by Tory prime ministers.
“Brexit sort of unfortunately didn’t turn out as people anticipated because… Brexit was largely about immigration,” Sir Jim said.
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“That was the biggest component of that vote. People were getting fed up with the influx of the city of Southampton coming in every year. I think last year it was two times Southampton.
“I mean, no small island like the UK could cope with vast numbers of people coming into the UK.
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“I mean, it just overburdens the National Health Service, the traffic service, the police, everybody.
“The country was designed for 55 or 60 million people and we’ve got 70 million people and all the services break down as a consequence.
“That’s what Brexit was all about and nobody’s implemented that. They just keep talking about it. But nothing’s been done, which is why I think we’ll finish up with the change of government.”
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has indicated an election is due this year but Monaco-based Sir Jim is unimpressed by the Conservatives’ handling of the economy.
“The UK does need to get a bit sharper on the business front,” he said. “I think the biggest objective for the government is to create growth in the economy.
“There’s two parts of the economy, there’s the services side of the economy and there’s the manufacturing side. And the manufacturing, unfortunately, has been sliding away now for the last 25 years.
“We were very similar in scale to Germany probably 25 years ago.
“But today we’re just a fraction of where Germany is and I think that isn’t healthy for the British economy… particularly when you think the north of England is very manufacturing based, and that talks to things like energy competitiveness, it talks to things like, why do you put an immensely high tax on the North Sea?
“That just disincentivises people from finding hydrocarbons in the North Sea, in energy.
“And what we need is competitive energy. So I mean, in America, in the energy world, in the oil and gas world, they just apply a corporation tax to the oil and gas companies, which is about 30%. And in the UK we’ve got this tax of 75% because we want to kill off the oil and gas companies.
“But if we don’t have competitive energy, we’re not going to have a healthy manufacturing industry. And that just makes no sense to me at all. No.”
‘We’re apolitical’
Asked about INEOS donating to Labour, Sir Jim replied: “We’re apolitical, INEOS.
“We just want a successful manufacturing sector in the UK and we’ve talked to the government about that. It’s pretty clear about our views.”
Sir Jim was keener to talk about the economy and politics than his role at struggling Manchester United, which he bought a 27.7% stake in from the American Glazer family in February – giving him an even higher business profile.
Push for stadium of the North
He is continuing to push for public funds to regenerate Old Trafford and the surrounding areas despite no apparent political support being forthcoming. Sir Keir was hosted at the stadium for a Premier League match last weekend just as heavy rain exposed the fragility of the ageing venue.
“There’s a very good case, in my view, for having a stadium of the North, which would serve the northern part of the country in that arena of football,” Sir Jim said. “If you look at the number of Champions League the North West has won, it’s 10. London has won two.
“And yet everybody from the North has to get down to London to watch a big football match. And there should be one [a large stadium] in the North, in my view.
“But it’s also important for the southern side of Manchester, you know, to regenerate.
“It’s the sort of second capital of the country where the Industrial Revolution began.
“But if you have a regeneration project, you need a nucleus or a regeneration project and having that world-class stadium there, I think would provide the impetus to regenerate that region.”
Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris has said he won’t be standing at the next general election but will keep campaigning for the Conservative Party.
In a letter to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, which he posted on X on Saturday night, Mr Heaton-Harris said after 24 years in politics, it had been an “honour and a privilege to serve”.
He thanked the people of Daventry, Mr Sunak and former Tory leaders, including Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, “for putting their trust in me”.
Mr Heaton-Harris, who has been serving as Northern Ireland secretary since September 2022, said: “I started as a campaigner and I’ll be out campaigning for @Conservatives at the next election because we are the only party that has and can deliver for the whole of the United Kingdom.”
He joins an exodus of Tory politicians who have announced they will be leaving Westminster at the next general election.
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More than 100 MPs from across the Commons have said they will not be standing.
Those who have announced their intention to leave parliament range from the longest-serving female MP, Labour’s Harriet Harman, to one of those only elected at the last election in 2019, Conservative MP Dehenna Davison.
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Of the more than 60 Tory MPs stepping aside, high profile names include former cabinet ministers Ben Wallace, Sajid Javid, Dominic Raab and Kwasi Kwarteng.
Back in March, Mrs May, 67, said she too had taken the “difficult decision” to quit the Commons after 27 years representing her Maidenhead constituency.
The last possible day for a general election is Tuesday 28 January 2025.