According to Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas, spot Ether (ETH) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are expected to start trading in the U.S. in July. Balchunas has revised his prediction for the official launch of spot Ether ETFs, setting the over/under date at July 2.
The crypto expert highlighted that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) staff provided feedback on the S-1 filings to issuers, describing the comments as minor and not significant issues. The SEC has requested responses within a week, indicating a good chance that the ETFs could be approved the following week, possibly before the upcoming holiday weekend.
While Balchunas acknowledged that anything could happen, he stressed that this is the current best estimate. SEC Chairman Gary Gensler recently shed some light on ETH ETFs during his testimony, expressing his expectation for the approval of spot Ethereum ETFs by the end of the summer. This statement has reinforced the belief that despite potential delays, approval is likely in the coming months.
Balchunas also mentioned that the issuers of spot Ethereum ETFs have been awaiting feedback from the SEC’s Division of Corporation Finance (Corp Fin) on their S-1 filings submitted two weeks ago. He explained that the delay was due to Corp Fin reviewing the documents for the first time, a situation that arose from a possible last-minute political change within the SEC.
Despite uncertainties about Corp Fin’s processing speed, some observers believe that Ethereum ETFs may not attract as much attention as Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs due to the absence of staking capabilities. SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, also known as “Crypto Mom,” has expressed doubts about the SEC’s treatment of Ethereum, noting the historical classification of Ethereum as a security, unlike Bitcoin, which is considered a commodity.
The journey of Ethereum ETFs so far has seen the SEC initiating the approval process, with the approval of eight 19b-4 filings on May 23. However, trading of these ETFs is pending until they receive the necessary approvals for their S-1 registration statements. The progress made signifies a significant step forward for Ethereum ETFs, eagerly anticipated by the crypto community.
At the time of writing, the price of Ethereum (ETH) stands at around $3,562.97, showing a 2.5% increase in the last 24 hours. Despite this, the second-largest cryptocurrency in the world is down by 3.5% on a weekly basis, according to CoinGecko data.