SEC Greenlights Initial Approval for Bitwise Bitcoin-Ethereum Spot ETF

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has granted preliminary approval to Bitwise Asset Management for its highly anticipated spot Bitcoin and Ethereum exchange-traded fund (ETF). On January 30, the regulator approved the fund’s Form 19b-4, marking the first key step toward the ETF’s launch.

Before it can go live, however, the SEC must still greenlight Bitwise’s Form S-1 registration application. If successful, this ETF would provide investors with direct exposure to the spot prices of both Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) in a single, weighted fund.

As per the filing, the fund will initially allocate 83% to Bitcoin and 17% to Ethereum, based on each asset’s market capitalization at the time of submission. The valuations will rely on pricing benchmarks multiplied by their respective circulating supplies.

Key Players Backing the ETF

Bitwise Investment Advisers will serve as the ETF manager, with Coinbase acting as the custodian for digital assets. Meanwhile, Bank of New York Mellon will handle cash custody, administration, and transfer services.

This marks the SEC’s third approval of a joint Bitcoin-Ethereum spot ETF after similar products by Hashdex and Franklin Templeton received the go-ahead on December 19.

Bitwise’s latest move follows the agency’s appointment of a crypto-friendly acting chair and a filing made shortly after Donald Trump’s November 2024 election victory.

Market Expansion and Memecoin Ambitions

Bitwise isn’t stopping at BTC and ETH. On January 28, the company filed paperwork for a Dogecoin-focused spot ETF, signaling a broader push into the market for digital asset funds.

The ETF sector is also seeing increasing innovation, with Tuttle Capital recently submitting filings for ten leveraged crypto ETFs. Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart commented that issuers are “testing the limits of what this SEC is going to allow.”

Nathan Dean, a senior government analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, highlighted that companies are “probing the SEC’s boundaries,” particularly with unique filings involving memecoins.

Bitwise remains optimistic about the future of crypto ETFs and market conditions. In a recent statement, the firm projected that the current bull market could extend well into 2026. “The path to full mainstream crypto adoption is clearer than ever,” the company stated.