VanEck CEO foresees likely rejection of Ether ETFs in May

The CEO of investment firm VanEck believes that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is unlikely to approve spot Ether (ETH) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in May. In an interview with CNBC, Jan van Eck stated that his firm’s application for a spot Ethereum ETF will probably be rejected. Van Eck’s firm was the first to file for a spot Ether ETF in the United States, along with ARK Invest, and both are awaiting a final decision on May 23 and May 24 respectively. CoinShares CEO Jean-Marie Mognetti also expressed pessimism, stating that he doesn’t see any ETFs being approved this year. These comments come after the SEC has remained inactive on seven pending applications for spot Ether ETFs. Senior Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas and other commentators attribute this silence as a reason why an ETF approval in May seems unlikely. VanEck’s Ether ETF application is scheduled for a final decision on May 23, along with six other fund issuers awaiting approval. Balchunas has lowered the odds of an Ether ETF approval by May from 70% to 35% and reiterated this stance in a recent post. Fellow ETF analyst James Seyffart shares a similar opinion, stating that the lack of comments or interactions from the SEC is a bad sign. VanEck’s spot Bitcoin ETF, known as HODL, is the fifth largest among the newly launched funds and has seen an inflow of $461.7 million since its launch in January. Jan van Eck praised the success of Bitcoin ETFs, describing Bitcoin as a maturing asset and noting that there are still many investors who have yet to gain exposure to it.