Currently, there are at least 92 crypto exchange sales products waiting for a verdict from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Among these, Solana (SOL) and XRP (XRP) stand out as the most sought-after cryptocurrencies, with eight ETF applications pending for SOL and seven for XRP. This insight comes from James Seyfert, an ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence.
According to Eric Balchunas, a senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg, as of April 21st, the SEC was already managing 72 crypto-related ETFs. This indicates that over the past four months, 20 additional ETFs have been submitted.
Of the pending ETFs, three aim to provide exposure to Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), while the remainder focus on various other altcoins.
The list includes 21 Shares and Grayscale, as they strive for approval of the ether staking ETF. Earlier in the month, the SEC disclosed that certain liquid staking activities fall outside their jurisdiction.
Grayscale is also mulling the conversion of five trusts into ETFs, which encompasses three share-traded funds and two individually-traded funds aimed at offering exposure to Litecoin, Solana, Dogecoin, XRP, and Avalanche.
Some are forecasting that the approval of crypto ETFs might be imminent. One user remarked, “Look at all the filings for Crypto ETFs… It means the floodgates for Crypto ETFs are about to open.”
On Monday, Bitfinex analysts pointed out that altcoins might not see substantial movement until more crypto ETFs receive green lights.
BlackRock Leads the Pack
BlackRock, the global asset manager, has taken a commanding lead in the Crypto ETF space.
Its Bitcoin Fund, the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF (IBIT), has seen a net inflow of approximately $582.8 billion since the launch of the Ethereum Fund. Likewise, the iShares Ethereum Trust ETF (ETHA) has attracted a net inflow of about $131.2 billion. This marks a notable achievement for the firm, as reported by Farside Investors.
There’s speculation that ETHA could soon surpass Coinbase as the largest holder of ETH.
At the same time, the IBIT Fund now controls over 3% of the total Bitcoin supply.
Interestingly, BlackRock appears to earn more in fees from the IBIT Funds each year than from the IBIT S&P Fund (IVV), which is the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF. The expense ratio for IBIT is 0.25%, which is significantly higher than IVV’s much lower expense ratio of 0.03%.
