Ether EFAs may be delayed, as institutions are not ready – Web3 exec

Approval of spot ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) may be delayed beyond the May deadline, as large financial institutions do not have an internal strategy for approval, Robbie Greenfield, CEO of smart money protocol Umoja, told Cointelegraph.

“What makes it difficult for institutions to position themselves well in Bitcoin, Ether, and cryptocurrencies in general is that they cannot facilitate the same market-making functions as their predecessors. You cannot create paper bitcoins like you can create paper gold.”

Companies competing for the Ether (ETH) ETF include BlackRock, Greyscale, Fidelity, ARK 21Shares, Invesco Galaxy, VanEck, Hashdex and Franklin Templeton.

Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seifert expects the current Ether ETF approvals to be rejected by the end of May, according to a March 19 post.

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has extended its ruling on the Hashdex and ARK 21Shares spot Ether ETFs to March 19. Both ETF applications have a deadline for a decision at the end of May.

Due to the decentralized nature of cryptocurrencies like Ether, creating an institutional strategy for ETFs is more difficult. It's bound to be delayed, according to Greenfield, and Ether ETF approvals are only a matter of time.

Whether it will be approved in May or December… I don't understand why it won't be approved, especially since even the SEC's view of Ether is becoming more of a commodity than a security. “

SEC on VanEck's application on May 23rd, ARK's 21Shares on May 24th, Hashdex's on May 30th, Grayscale's on June 18th and Invesco's on July 5th. Applications for Fidelity and BlackRock are due August 3 and August 7. .

Related: CoinShares Acquires Valkyrie's ETF Business

Beyond Ether ETFs in place, large institutional players are still hesitant to invest in decentralized finance (DeFi), due to a lack of infrastructure, which holds back the participation of traditional retail investors, Greenfield told Cointelegraph.

“Institutional capital will not affect DeFi unless processes and guarantees are in place to make them comfortable. Without a better user experience, real retail investors won't touch DeFi, so a simpler infrastructure is needed.

According to Greenfield, retail access to enabling smart investment strategies is important because individual investors have less access to wealth management tools than institutions.

To provide broader retail access to asset management strategies, Umoja has closed a $2 million extension for its first round of seed funding, bringing its total funding to $4 million.

“If you look at all the assets under management on the planet, 52% are retail. So retail investors have a lot of money to spend on wealth creation, but very few opportunities so far.”

Retail investors will account for 52% of global assets under management in 2021, which is projected to grow to 61% by 2030, according to estimates by the World Economic Forum.