As spot Ethereum Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) applications are being asked to be amended by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), prominent Bloomberg analysts have envisioned a 75% chance of approval. Previously, the same guru had given this regulatory exercise a much less 25% chance.
Balchunas gave this opinion soon after news arrived regarding the SEC’s request to amend spot Ethereum ETF applications, Form 19b-4. The federal regulator followed the same practice before granting approvals to spot ETFs of Bitcoin itself.
The Bitcoin community is abuzz with rumors regarding the possible approval of these exchange-traded funds of the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. ETH is flying high at the moment, having already increased 22.1% in the last 24 hours alone.
What are Spot Ethereum ETFs and Why are they Important?
Spot ETFs are a way of owning an underlying asset directly via a major exchange. For example, instead of buying Gold or Bitcoin directly from users, investors can buy shares of an ETF on Nasdaq or New York Stock Exchange. Over 9 Bitcoin ETFs were approved in January this year, which resulted in a major price boost for the premier cryptocurrency.
The premise is that conventional asset managers need a secure, regulated way to buy crypto assets, and they won’t invest in centralized exchanges. Now, they have the tools to do it, at least when Bitcoin is concerned. JPMorgan Chase, BlackRock, Morgan Stanley, and other funds with hundreds of billions and even trillions of dollars of assets have already invested in Bitcoin ETFs.
Is an ETH ETF Right Around the Corner?
Following BTC’s success, analysts were quick to predict that ETH would be next and that that a spot Ether ETF approval would be imminent. However, ETH’s dynamics are very different from that of Bitcoin. The SEC is particularly concerned about its staking feature, which can result in passive gains for the holders. Passive gains, according to the SEC, mean that the underlying asset is a security and not a commodity, and an ETF would be a difficult proposition. Bitcoin has no passive rewards scheme, so Ethereum ETF presents that kind of problem at the moment.
However, the SEC is also keen on bringing all major cryptocurrencies under its watchful eyes, and an ETF seems like the best bet to accomplish that. However, it remains to be seen if and when Spot Ethereum ETF applications will be approved. Balchunas is adamant that an approval is quite likely now.
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