In his interview with CNBC’s Squawk Box on February 14, Gary Gensler, the Chair of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), remained tight-lipped about spot Ether (ETH) exchange-traded funds (ETFs). When questioned about when a decision might be made, Gensler simply stated that the process would be handled in the same manner as Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs, without revealing any information about the current status or potential timeline.
The SEC recently postponed its decision on the Invesco Galaxy Ether ETF on February 6, as well as the decision on Invesco’s ETF application in December. The SEC has also delayed decisions on other Ether ETF applications from companies such as Grayscale, Fidelity, and BlackRock, the world’s largest asset management firm. VanEck and Hashdex are also competing for ETF approvals.
Franklin Templeton, one of the latest Wall Street firms, filed an S1 document for a spot Ether ETF on February 12. The $1.5-trillion asset management giant expressed its intention to allocate a portion of the ETF’s ETH to generate additional passive income, similar to ARK 21Shares’ revised filing.
The SEC has specific deadlines for deciding on these ETF applications. VanEck’s application must be decided by May 23, ARK 21Shares’ by May 24, Hashdex’s by May 30, Grayscale’s by June 18, and Invesco’s by July 5. Fidelity and BlackRock’s applications must be decided by August 3 and August 7, respectively. Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart anticipates that all outstanding Ether ETF applications will receive a simultaneous decision by May 23, mirroring the SEC’s approval of all spot Bitcoin ETFs on January 10.
However, Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas recently decreased the likelihood of a spot Ether ETF approval in 2024 from 70% to 60%, as reported in a January 31 X post.
In terms of Bitcoin ETFs, BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) surpassed 105,280 BTC under management on February 13, becoming the first spot Bitcoin ETF in the United States to exceed the 100,000-BTC milestone.