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BlackRock’s spot Ethereum ETF plan is confirmed after Nasdaq filing

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Blackrock’s plans for a spot Ethereum exchange-traded fund (ETF) has now been confirmed, per a 19b-4 form filing submitted to the United States Securities and Exhange Commission on Nov. 9.

Nasdaq filed the 19b-4 form to securities regulator on behalf of the $9 trillion asset management firm for a proposed ETF called the “iShares Ethereum Trust.”

The move signals BlackRock’s intention to expand beyond Bitcoin with its ETF aspirations.

NASDAQ’s 19b-4 filing to the SEC for BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust. Source: NASDAQ

Earlier on Nov. 9, it emerged that BlackRock registered corporate entity iShares Ethereum Trust in Delaware, the first hint that a spot Ethereum ETF filing could be imminent.

BlackRock and other financial firms have expressed interest in cryptocurrency-backed ETFs over the last few months.

Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart noted that there are at least five firms in the running to win the Securities and Exchange Commission’s approval for a spot Ethereum ETF.

Related: Ethereum futures ETFs garner lukewarm reception on first day of trading

Among them are VanEck, ARK 21Shares, Invesco, Grayscale and Hashdex.

Ether (ETH) spiked 8.9% to $2080 on the news that BlackRock is moving forward its plans for an iShares Ethereum Trust and is up 10.1% over the last 24 hours, according to CoinGecko.

ETH’s change in price over the last 24 hours. Source: CoinGecko

The price surge has helped ETH claw back some market dominance against Bitcoin (BTC), which has outperformed ETH in recent months.

ETH’s market dominance now sits at 17%, up 1.3% percentage points prior to the news.

Magazine: Bitcoin ETF: Wall Street’s Path to Crypto