Digital asset manager Valkyrie won’t purchase additional ether (ETH) futures for its Valkyrie Bitcoin Strategy ETF until the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approves the inclusion of the futures in exchange-traded funds, according to a new regulatory filing on Friday.
The firm will also unwind any ether futures purchases it already made. The update comes a day after Fox Business published an exclusive stating that Valkyrie had “won the race to offer the first exchange-traded fund featuring ethereum futures.”
The SEC appears to be rushing through the approval for Ethereum futures ETFs due to the looming government shutdown on Oct. 1. The ETFs could begin trading as early as Monday.
Contenders in the race include VanEck’s Ethereum Futures ETF (EFUT), two entries from Bitwise and three ProShares funds, which all filed new or updated ETF applications on Thursday and Friday.
Once permitted to add the futures, Valkyrie’s fund will be called the Valkyrie Bitcoin and Ether Strategy ETF.
The U.S. Congress needed to pass 12 different spending bills before government funding expires at 12:01 a.m. on Oct.1 to avoid a shutdown.
SEC Chair Gary Gensler told the U.S. House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday that upto 93 percent of the agency could be furloughed in the event of a shutdown, leaving behind a skeleton staff who would perform basic operations.
