The possibility of approving an Ethereum spot ETF by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) before May 23rd is decreasing, according to Fox Business journalist Eleanor Terrett. Unlike the approval process for a Bitcoin spot ETF, the SEC has not been actively advancing the approval process for an Ethereum spot ETF. At the same time, influential politicians such as Senator Elizabeth Warren are joining forces to strongly oppose the approval of related applications.
BlackRock and Fidelity submitted their Ethereum spot ETF applications to the SEC in November of last year, followed by financial institutions such as Hashdex, ARK 21Shares, and VanEck. Currently, there are 8 Ethereum spot ETF applications. However, the SEC has repeatedly delayed making a decision in recent months, with the most recent delay being on April 4th for the applications from BlackRock and Fidelity.
May 23rd as a key date:
It is widely expected that May 23rd will be an important date for whether the Ethereum spot ETF can pass, as it is the final approval deadline for VanEck’s application. However, according to Fox Business journalist Eleanor Terrett, the optimism of the SEC approving an Ethereum spot ETF before May 23rd is diminishing. Eleanor Terrett mentioned that she heard from a source that SEC Chairman Gary Gensler believes that by approving a Bitcoin spot ETF, he has appeased the entire industry. In addition, influential anti-cryptocurrency politicians such as Senator Elizabeth Warren are now joining forces to oppose the approval of an Ethereum spot ETF.
Warning from Bloomberg analyst:
Bloomberg ETF Senior Analyst Eric Balchunas had estimated in January that there was a 60% chance of an Ethereum spot ETF being approved in May. However, on May 10th, he issued a warning that the chances of an ETF being approved in May are not very optimistic, despite the SEC meeting with Coinbase on May 6th regarding the transformation of the Grayscale Ethereum Trust into a spot ETF. Previously, Gary Gensler avoided questions about whether the SEC might approve an Ethereum spot ETF in an interview on May 8th. In February, he also emphasized that the decision to approve a Bitcoin spot ETF in January does not represent the SEC’s endorsement of digital assets, nor does it necessarily mean they will handle Ethereum in the same way as Bitcoin in the future.
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