A growing number of industry insiders say they are skeptical that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will approve an Ethereum spot ETF within the deadline.
The SEC deadline is to end its review of the Ethereum ETF in late May. Previously, the SEC had postponed the approval deadline in March.
Currently, the SEC is seeking public comments on ETFs to be issued, such as the Fidelity Ethereum Fund, the Grayscale Ethereum Trust, and the Bitwise Ethereum Trust. However, industry optimism about the SEC's approval of these products has declined.
Companies such as BlackRock, Fidelity, and VanEck have issued spot Bitcoin ETFs this year, and these companies are currently awaiting approval for an Ethereum spot ETF. However, some issuers are no longer convinced they can get approval from the SEC.
Vaneck CEO Jan Van Eck said, “We are the first company to apply for an Ethereum ETF in the US, and we and Ark Investments CEO Cathy Wood (Cathy Wood) are probably the first to be rejected in May.”
Since the SEC approved the first batch of spot Bitcoin ETFs in January of this year, the cryptocurrency market's enthusiasm for Ethereum ETFs has continued to rise. However, the SEC has hinted that it may not easily approve such investment products.
SEC Chairman Gary Gensler previously emphasized that the vast majority of digital crypto assets are investment contracts and are therefore subject to federal securities laws. This complicates the issue of Ethereum ETFs.
Jean-Marie Mognetti, CEO of digital asset management company CoinShares, said today: “We are closely monitoring the Ethereum ETF decision. CoinShares didn't compete for a Bitcoin ETF until three months before it was approved, and managed to qualify at the last minute.”
However, Mognetti is pessimistic about the possibility of an Ethereum ETF being approved in the short term. “I don't think it will be approved in the first half of this year yet,” he said.