Author: Bloomberg, Cointelegraph
Translation: Felix, LianGuaiNews
According to Bloomberg, informed sources revealed that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) plans to approve the listing of Ethereum futures ETF. Currently, more than a dozen companies, including Volatility Shares, Bitwise, Roundhill, and ProShares, have applied to launch Ethereum futures ETF. Although it is currently impossible to immediately determine which funds will be approved, an anonymous source said that officials have hinted that several of the applications could be approved as early as October. The SEC declined to comment on this.
Although regulatory agencies have repeatedly refused to allow cryptocurrency-based ETFs, speculation has been growing since the end of 2021, when funds trading Bitcoin futures contracts were allowed on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), that products based on Ethereum futures (also traded on CME) will follow suit.
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Eric Balchunas, Senior ETF Analyst at Bloomberg, said that he is not surprised by the SEC’s approval of Ethereum futures ETF, and added that this decision shows that the regulatory agency’s views on different products, such as Bitcoin spot ETFs, may change over time.
According to Eric Balchunas’ latest statistics, as of August 17th, there are currently 16 valid applications for Ethereum futures ETF, and the decision date for Valkyrie Bitcoin Ethereum Strategy ETF (BTF) may be the earliest, on October 3, 2023.
However, the SEC’s approval progress for products involving the second largest cryptocurrency derivatives has been slow. Previously, the U.S. SEC fought with the industry because it refused to approve a Bitcoin spot ETF. As early as 2022, Grayscale Investments questioned the SEC’s refusal to approve the company’s first Bitcoin spot ETF and subsequently filed a lawsuit against the SEC. Grayscale believes that the SEC failed to treat Grayscale’s application and other similar applications equally, in violation of federal law.
In response, the SEC believes that the proposal to list the product on the NYSE Arca did not do enough to prevent fraud and manipulation. The cryptocurrency field is full of investment risks, and the SEC expressed concerns that the prices of such assets may be manipulated, liquidity may be insufficient, and the extreme volatility of Bitcoin prices may be difficult for individual investors to bear.
However, according to AP_Abacus, a Twitter crypto KOL, it is expected that the appellate court will rule on the Grayscale Grayscale vs. U.S. SEC case on August 19th. Most legal experts expect the ruling to be favorable to Grayscale. Although winning the appeal does not mean that Bitcoin ETF has been approved, it does increase the likelihood of a quick approval.
Although the news of the potential approval of Ethereum futures ETF has sparked market discussions and boosted market confidence, the market decline may not be reversed in the future.
Looking at the fact that the price of Bitcoin briefly rose to $31,000 after BlackRock submitted an application for a spot Bitcoin ETF, and has been hovering around $29,000, the optimistic sentiment brought by such news is short-lived.
Related reading: Is there a wave of Ethereum futures ETF applications? Seven Ethereum futures ETF filing companies listed.
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