Market participants waiting earnestly for the approval of a Bitcoin spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) may have to put off their expectations for a while. According to a Bloomberg Intelligence analysis, the market is more likely to see an Ethereum futures ETF given priority by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Bloomberg predicts that an Ether futures-backed ETF may launch by the first quarter of 2022.
“Most market participants agree that a spot Bitcoin ETF would be superior to existing futures ETFs, yet SEC approval of the former may be delayed until late 2022 or beyond,” Bloomberg’s ETF expert James Seyffart said in the note.
Bloomberg’s analyst argues that the SEC’s approval of Bitcoin futures ETFs paves the way for Ethereum to as well get endorsed. They also denote that the commission continues to be opposed to spot-settled cryptocurrency ETFs. However, the analysis also predicts that a Bitcoin spot-settled ETF may hit the market in 2022 as well.
Two notable Ethereum futures ETFs were withdrawn from the desk of the SEC back in August. VanEck and Proshares withdrew their Ethereum futures ETF on the same day amidst speculation that the SEC’s move was pointing to its closeness to approving Bitcoin futures ETFs. The speculation notably was championed by Bloomberg Intelligence’s Eric Balchunas who noted that it was a good sign for the market.
He said: “VanEck and ProShares rapid withdrawal of proposals for Ethereum futures ETFs is a good sign for potential Bitcoin futures ETF, given the SEC has allowed those filings to remain active.”
In this iteration of their stance, the analysts are more bullish on an Ethereum futures ETF being the next big crypto ETF news to move the market. Applications for Ethereum spot and futures-based ETFs are almost as numerous as the ones for Bitcoin.
Significantly, the performance of Ethereum futures funds trading on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) has also been impressive. Business Insider reports that Ether futures currently have open interest of about $1.2 billion. Bloomberg Intelligence notes that this is about the same amount of open interest Bitcoin futures on the exchange had when SEC Chairman Gary Gensler outlined requirements for futures-based ETFs.
Ether (ETH) continues to surge in the market amidst growing adoption and activity on the blockchain. ETH is up around 31.2% in the last 30 days. It also set a new all-time high of $4,837 today. It is currently trading around $4,769, up 3.02% on the day at press time.
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