Ethereum ETFs ‘close to the finish line’ – Bitwise exec

A roster of eight United States-based spot Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are inching closer to going live, but crypto asset manager Bitwise’s chief compliance officer Katherine Dowling says an exact launch date remains unknown.

“We’re seeing in the S-1 amendments that there are fewer and fewer issues that are being vetted back and forth between issuers and the SEC,” Dowling told Bloomberg on July 9.

So that points all signs in the direction that we are close. We’re close to the finish line on the launch.

Form S-1s provide information about the issuer and the securities they intend to offer. Once approved, the products can launch.

US Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler recently predicted that the spot Ether (ETH $3,109) ETFs will launch sometime in the summer.

“Everyone has a different definition of summer. It’s been a little bit of a long, hot summer for the issuers waiting,” Dowling said.

Several spot Ether ETF issuers have been waiting for six weeks to have their S-1 registration statements signed off by the SEC after the regulator approved several 19b-4 filings on May 23.

The issuers submitted their amended S-1s in early July after the securities regulator provided a first round of feedback.

Bitwise’s chief investment officer Matt Hougan speculated that the spot Ether ETFs could attract up to $15 billion in inflows in the first 18 months of trading — roughly the same amount that the spot Bitcoin ETFs have mustered since launching six months ago.

SEC is open to funds beyond BTC and ETH

Dowling revealed that the SEC has also been open to discussions concerning non-Bitcoin and Ether products as well.

“We’ve actually dialogued with the SEC about the possibility of what’s coming down the pipe with new products,” Dowling said.

I think our communication with the SEC about the prospects for these products has actually been quite welcoming.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) filed applications to list spot Solana (SOL $145) ETFs on behalf of VanEck and 21Shares on July 8.

However, Dowling isn’t confident that a third spot cryptocurrency ETF will be approved under Gensler’s leadership.

Senior Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Blachunas made a similar observation on July 9, saying that a spot Solana ETF application would likely be “dead on arrival” if Biden were to be re-elected and Gensler kept on as the head of the financial regulator. 

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