The consensus, according to Nate Geraci, president of the ETF Store, is that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will not approve spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in May.
This is a result of the last several weeks’ absence of interaction with issuers.
Barron’s noted earlier this month that conversations on spot ETFs had been “extremely biassed.” This is not at all like the nonstop “back-and-forth” that was witnessed during the final stages of the certification process for many Bitcoin ETFs.
It is now very improbable that the SEC would approve Ethereum ETFs because they declined to comment on the idea.
As senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg, Eric Balchunas put it succinctly: “Silence is violence” when it comes to the SEC’s dealings with prospective issuers.
Another lawsuit?
That being said, Balchunas claims that if the SEC denies a large number of Ethereum ETF applications, it may be subject to another lawsuit.
Grayscale won a court battle against the SEC back in August when the U.S. District of Columbia Court of Appeals determined that the agency erred in rejecting the company’s application for a Bitcoin ETF.
Geraci now thinks that because of the SEC’s resistance to approving Ethereum ETFs, Grayscale may file a new lawsuit against it:
“I have to presume Grayscale, but some other resourceful ETF issuer with sufficient funds may see this as a standard marketing expenditure.essentially position themselves as “pro-crypto” and ready to support innovation,” he stated.
Does anyone care about Ethereum ETFs?
Given that futures-based exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that monitor the value of the biggest cryptocurrency have received minimal attention, some have questioned the relevance of spot Ethereum ETFs.
Nonetheless, Geraci thinks Ethereum ETFs are still very important, especially considering the phenomenal performance of Bitcoin ETFs.
Because of its $379 billion market capitalization, Ethereum is considered a “big enough deal” by analysts and issuers.
