Ethereum Spot ETF Dream Dashed? Expert Pessimistic On Approval Prospects

Within the cryptocurrency investment space, there has been much debate and conjecture around the possibility of an Ethereum Spot Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs). However, in light of ongoing regulatory obstacles, senior Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Eric Balchunas has offered a gloomy view of the products, noting that the firm is now more pessimistic than ever about the likelihood of the funds being approved by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Ethereum Spot ETF Pessimism Prevails

Eric Balchunas’ insights came in response to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Fizen Leo Vu’s post regarding Grayscale’s CEO Michael Sonneshein’s optimism toward approval of Ethereum spot ETFs. According to Michael, he is very confident that the SEC will grant the company’s request to convert its Ethereum trust into a spot ETF.

Responding to the post, Balchunas expressed his displeasure with the CEO’s claims, highlighting his disagreement and Bloomberg’s constant pessimism toward the products. While Balchunas believes that the funds might be authorized in the foreseeable future, he thinks it will not happen within a year. However, the election in November and what Grayscale says about denial are significant factors that could trigger a shift in the forecast.

Balchunas further noted that Sonneshein mentioned that Grayscale decided to withdraw its ETH futures ETF filed under the Securities Act of 1933 because it wanted to concentrate more on its Spot ETF. Meanwhile, the major purpose of filing the ETH futures under the 1933 Act, as opposed to the 1940 Act, was to create a legal opening.

The expert thinks a potential reason why Grayscale made the move might be because they do not want to pay the whole cost once more to give Blackrock a massive ETF progress, as seen following the approval of the Bitcoin Spot ETFs while taking a lot of crap from people due to unlock outflows.

Shared View On Grayscale’s ETF Withdrawal

Balchunas’ insights have caused quite a stir in the crypto community. Scott Johnsson, a finance lawyer and author, has expressed his agreement with Bloomberg’s analyst overview.

Johnsson may be in line with Balchunas’s perspective on why Grayscale withdrew its Ethereum futures; however, he believes by taking such action, the firm displayed its true intentions. “Can I blame them? I don’t know, but don’t piss on my leg and tell me it’s raining,” he added.

He further stated that without pulling ETHE itself, Grayscale could not claim to be trying to convert ETHE while simultaneously engaging in the single most significant action to obstruct that objective.

Thus, Balchunas concurred with Johnsson saying that the part where he mentioned Grayscale taking a bunch of crap from people was due to high cost, which the company is to blame. “I’m not letting them off the hook for what they said re conversion but rather trying to get others to see it from their perspective/self-interest. When you do everything starts to make sense,” he added.

It is worth noting that the approval odds for Ethereum spot ETFs today now stand at merely 9%, indicating a nearly 90% drop since the first filings were made.

Featured image from iStock, chart from Tradingview.com