Ethereum ETFs Will ‘Probably Be Rejected’ In May – VanEck CEO
The investment firm's CEO, Van Eyck, said in May that it was unlikely the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission would approve the cryptocurrency Ethereum (ETH).
In an interview with CNBC on April 9, Jan Van Eck said the company's application for a spot Ethereum ETF will “probably be rejected.”
His company, alongside Cathy Wood's ARK Invest, has filed for the first time in the United States for a spot ether ETF, and both said they are awaiting a final decision on May 23 and May 24.
“The way the legal process goes is regulators comment on your application and that happened for weeks and weeks before the Bitcoin ETF, but now the pin is dropping when it comes to Ethereum.”
CoinShares CEO Jean-Marie Magnetti was equally pessimistic, telling CNBC that “I don't see anything approved this year.”
Van Eck's comments come after a long delay from the SEC regarding the list of seven pending applications for spot ether ETFs.
Several analysts — including senior Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas — also saw continued “radio silence” between the regulator and hedge fund issuers as a key reason why May's ETF approval seems unlikely.
Van Eckter's ETF application is due for a final decision on May 23, the first of seven funders including Greyscale, BlackRock and Fidelity.
Balchunas lowered his normal odds of approving the Ether ETF from 70 percent to 35 percent in May. The analyst reiterated his stance on pending approvals and echoed Van Eck's sentiments on April 9 on Xx.
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As we said, they asked the SEC to comment on the documents (what he called “critical feedback”) and it's still not happening, they don't even provide anything in person. “Silence is injustice.”
“Zero comments/interactions is a bad sign,” echoed EFF analyst James Seifert.
“There's no reason why the SEC didn't do anything for months when we knew this was coming,” he added.
The VanEck Spot Bitcoin ETF — which trades under the ticker HODL — is the fifth-largest of the ten newly launched funds (excluding Grayscale), with $461.7 million in inflows since its launch in mid-January, according to Farside Investors.
Commenting on the success of Bitcoin ETFs, Jan van Eyck described Bitcoin as a “mature asset,” noting that there are still many investors with exposure to the asset.
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