Gary Gensler Signals Green Light for Ether ETFs: Will Approval Come Before Elections?

• Reuters report hints that the Spot Ether ETF would be approved by the SEC by July 4.
• The SEC’s discussion with the issuers has reached its final stage, indicating the ETF launch.
• SEC Chair Gary Gensler states that the Ether ETF launch is going smoothly in the United States.

Reports indicate that the Securities and Exchange Commission may soon approve the first spot Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs), a decision that could reshape the cryptocurrency landscape.

A Reuters report suggests the SEC may approve spot Ether ETFs by as early as July 4, 2024 . A lawyer representing one of the ETF issuers stated that approval is “probably not more than a week or two away.”

While the sources declined to be identified due to the confidential nature of the matter, they confirmed that discussions between regulators and issuers are in the final stages. Two of the issuers revealed that amendments to the documents have progressed to resolving only “minor” issues. They await the SEC’s approval of the documents to launch the ETFs.

In a recent Bloomberg interview, SEC Chair Gary Gensler said the Ether ETF launch process is “going smoothly” in the United States. However, he declined to comment on the possibility of the ETF launch before the U.S. elections in November, emphasizing the importance of complete disclosure by asset managers in their registration statements.

“It’s really about the asset managers making the full disclosure so that those registration statements can go effective…What is in front of us — and it’s done at a staff level — is what’s called the registration statements, the disclosure statements. Again, these disclosures are really important. They’re important to investors making investment decisions.

The spot Bitcoin ETF launch in January 2024 ushered in significant changes to the crypto market, with increased demand for ETFs fueling a bull run. However, ETF and crypto analysts are less optimistic about the potential impact of spot Ether ETFs. CoinShares Research Head James Butterfill noted that “Ethereum is not the same size in terms of market cap, nor does it have the same volumes.”