Nov 16 Reuters Asset management giant BlackRock on Thursday officially filed for a spot ethereum exchangetraded fund ETF, doubling down on its cryptocurrency bets amid investor optimism about the approval of such investment vehicles.

The iShares Ethereum Trust, which was registered last week and will be listed on Nasdaq if approved, will give investors access to ether the second most popular cryptocurrency without directly owning it.

BlackRock is proposing to convert the trust to a spot ETF, which means it will own ether instead of futures products tied to the crypto token.

While futuresbased crypto ETFs have previously been approved by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission SEC, the regulator has long contended that the spot crypto market is prone to fraud and manipulation.

But in August, a federal appeals court ruled that the SEC was wrong to reject an application from digital asset manager Grayscale Investments to create a spot bitcoin ETF.

The landmark victory for Grayscale has prompted a wave of enthusiasm among companies that filed for such investment vehicles in recent months, and has helped restore some faith in the crypto industry after it was shaken by several highprofile collapses last year.

BlackRock dipped its toes in the crypto space with its filing for a spot bitcoin ETF in June. Its latest filing indicates that the Wall Street behemoth is aiming to move beyond bitcoin, the world39;s most popular cryptocurrency.

The company will be vying with…