The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission could approve spot ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) by July 4 as talks between regulators and asset managers enter the final stages, as reported by Reuters, citing industry executives.
VanEck, BlackRock, Grayscale, Franklin Templeton, and four other asset managers seek SEC approval for the funds. After grappling with regulators for over a decade, most of these platforms launched spot bitcoin ETFs in January.
Anonymous insiders told Reuters that the process of amending the offers has not advanced, and only “minor” issues have been resolved. ETFs can only launch once the respective documents have been approved.
Furthermore, an anonymous lawyer representing one of the asset managers disclosed the approval process is in its final stages, with only ‘finishing touches‘ remaining. The anticipation is palpable, with the approval likely ‘not more than a week or two away.’
However, while the SEC did not comment, SEC Chair Gary Gensler has said the launch date depends partly on the speed with which issuers respond to the regulator’s questions.
Ether price prospects are underwhelming.
The price of ether has dropped by around 13% this month, compared to a 9.8% decline in the Bitcoin price. At the time of writing, Ether is trading for $3,384, down 5-6% in the past week.
When funds tracking the spot price of bitcoin launched in January, the ETF market attracted assets worth $8 billion. As of June 2024, the nine platforms have almost $38 billion in assets. Bitcoin also reached an all-time high in the wake of the launches.
However, many market analysts believe the results of the new spot ether ETFs will be less impressive. Ethereum (ETH) has much lower trading volumes and market cap than Bitcoin (BTC). Analysts have also expressed the opinion that demand for Bitcoin had been pent-up for a decade, and there was colossal investor interest at the time of the Bitcoin ETF launch, which is different for the second largest crypto by market cap.
At any rate, spot Ether ETFs are coming. The SEC has approved the rule changes required for Nasdaq, the NYSE, and CBOE to list and oversee trading. The new ETFs could start trading within 24 hours of the SEC endorsing the filings.
