According to Recharge Capital founder John Lo, the approval of a spot Ether exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the United States is not as certain as the previous approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs. In an exclusive interview with Cointelegraph, Lo stated that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is likely to scrutinize upcoming crypto-based ETFs, particularly those focused on Ether.
Various companies, including BlackRock, Grayscale, Fidelity, Invesco Galaxy, VanEck, Hashdex, and Franklin Templeton, are competing to launch an Ether ETF. The SEC has specific deadlines to decide on each application, with VanEck’s application due by May 23, ARK 21Shares’ by May 24, Hashdex’s by May 30, Grayscale’s by June 18, Invesco’s by July 5, Fidelity’s by August 3, and BlackRock’s by August 7.
However, even if the SEC denies the applications, Lo believes that Ethereum will continue to thrive without an Ether ETF. He attributes this to the network’s rapid innovation and recent upgrades.
In addition to ETFs, Lo also discussed the challenges faced by decentralized finance (DeFi) applications. He highlighted the lack of focus on user experience as a major obstacle preventing institutional participation in the sector. Furthermore, the high cost of user acquisition is limiting the number of DeFi users and hindering the growth of the industry.
Despite these challenges, Ethereum remains a hub for DeFi activity. Over the past year, the total value locked (TVL) on the Ethereum network has increased by 80.3% to reach $51 billion as of March 18, according to DefiLlama. The number of unique wallet addresses has also grown by 21.6% to reach 115,934 during the same period, based on Etherscan data.
In related news, an unnamed presale address managed to accumulate $33 million worth of SOL tokens within just one hour.