Following a long-awaited green light from the Securities and Exchange Commission for the 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs, industry pundits expect that Ethereum will have a smoother path to approval. Buoyed by the bullish outlook of traders, the ETH price reached an 18-month-high, and is currently changing hands at $2,650, as per data from CoinMarketCap.
Several Ethereum ETF hopefuls have already filed the S-1 forms with the SEC, including BlackRock, Fidelity, Grayscale, Ark & 21Shares, Invesco & Galaxy, VanEck, and Hashdex.
In a private conversation with CoinTelegraph, Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas estimated that there is a 70% chance for the Ethereum ETF to get approval from the regulator, adding that it’s difficult for him to see a scenario where the Bitcoin ETF gets a green light, but Ethereum ETF doesn’t.
According to Bloomberg, the deadlines for the SEC's review of the multiple Ethereum ETF applications are May 23 for VanEck, May 24 for Ark & 21Shares, May 30 for Hashdex, June 18 for Grayscale, and July 5 for Invesco & Galaxy. Fidelity and BlackRock’s filings are to be reviewed by August 3 and August 7, respectively.
In lockstep with ETH, most Ethereum ecosystem tokens also enjoyed a brief rally, with Lido’s LDO and RocketPool’s RPL posting double-digit gains before retreating. Both protocols function as decentralized staking solutions that allow users to participate in staking without the need to rely on a centralized third party. Layer 2 scaling solutions, such as Optimism’s OP and Arbitrum’s ARB, also added up to 9%.
Despite the current bullish trend, some Twitter pundits suggested that the Ethereum ETF may have a rocky road to approval ahead. Unlike Bitcoin, which is unanimously classified as a commodity, Ethereum finds itself in a much murkier situation. The SEC Chair Gary Gensler has repeatedly refused to provide a clear decision on whether Ether falls under the SEC’s jurisdiction, although at the beginning of his tenure, he once stated that Ethereum is sufficiently decentralized to be considered a commodity.
Furthermore, approval of an Ethereum ETF will open the door for ETFs for all major Layer 1 blockchains, so the commission may be hesitant to let the genie out of the bottle, some analysts predict.
