Even though the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has remained silent on the matter, speculations are rife in the crypto community that the regulator is likely to deny applications to launch spot Ethereum (ETH) ETFs in May, reports Reuters. The disappointment – should it happen – would be a turn in the tide for the community after the authority’s “landmark approval” of spot Bitcoin ETFs in January.
According to Reuters, nine issuers have filed to list spot ETH ETFs so far, with VanEck and ARK Investment Management being the first ones to do so. The firms are expecting a decision on their filings from the SEC by 23 and 24 May respectively.
Should not be a leap
SEC had approved ETH futures-based ETFs in October last year, prompting issuers to argue that the leap to approval for spot ETH ETFs should not be too big. Reuters quotes Coinbase, which claims that “ETH futures and the spot market are highly correlated”.
Approval for these products has been – and will continue to be – hard-won, after a regulatory holdout of almost a decade. The crypto industry had hoped that the January clearance for spot Bitcoin ETFs to list would pave the way to approval for spot ETF ETFs. SEC, however, appears to remain hesitant in doling out approvals.
Coinbase believes that should SEC reject ETH ETFs, it would be on the basis of “broad issues” in the “nature and depth of statistical data on the underlying ETH market”.