Investment firm Hashdex has decided to pull back its request for a spot Ether exchange-traded fund (ETF), according to documents filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The filing, dated May 28, shows that Hashdex has withdrawn its proposal for a rule change that would have allowed the launch of its Hashdex Nasdaq Ethereum ETF. The application was taken down on May 24, just one day after the SEC gave the green light to eight similar financial products.

The reasons behind Hashdex's decision are not specified, and it remains unclear whether the company plans to resubmit its proposal in the future. Cointelegraph reached out to Hashdex for comment but did not receive an immediate response.

On May 23, the SEC approved the 19b-4 filings from VanEck, BlackRock, Fidelity, Grayscale, Franklin Templeton, ARK 21Shares, Invesco Galaxy, and Bitwise, paving the way for spot Ether ETFs to be listed and traded on their respective exchanges. These funds are expected to launch in June.

Unlike other applicants, Hashdex's proposal for a spot Ether ETF combined spot Ether holdings with Ether futures contracts in an effort to mitigate potential manipulation concerns.

Other applicants, such as Fidelity, ARK 21Shares, and Franklin Templeton, have focused on purely spot-based Ether ETFs, with some late amendments to their filings, such as removing support for Ether (ETH) staking in response to SEC feedback.

Hashdex's ETF sought to track daily fluctuations in the Nasdaq Ether Reference Price to address regulatory concerns about market manipulation. According to its initial filing from September 2023, the fund would hold a mix of spot Ether, Ether futures contracts, and cash instead of relying solely on spot Ether, which could make it more susceptible to price manipulation in the spot market.

Hashdex is also among the issuers of spot Bitcoin ETFs approved in January. Similarly, the company's BTC fund used an alternative strategy from other asset managers, such as sourcing spot BTC from physical exchanges within the CME market instead of depending on the Coinbase surveillance sharing agreement.