Bloomberg Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs) analyst Eric Balchunas believes the chances of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approving a spot Ethereum (ETH) ETF by the end of May are slim.
Answering a question about a after he posted on social media platform X saying he is pessimistic about the approval of an ETH spot ETF. Balchunas says in an appearance on the David Lin YouTube channel that one of his reasons is that the approval process is behind schedule.
“I believe the final due date is May 21st. It’s now six weeks later and the SEC has yet to provide any comment to issuers. Comments that involve the issuers giving them these registration documents, the SEC would normally write back to them and say, “Hey, we have ten questions for you. Can you please address this and send us a new application?’
They then read the new application and give it another set of comments. That will take weeks, if not months. And that hasn’t started yet. And so from our… we have good purchasing as well… it feels like the SEC has deliberately chosen and chosen not to comment.”
The senior Bloomberg ETF analyst says SEC Chairman Gary Gensler’s views could also hinder the approval of a spot Ethereum ETF.
“Gensler at his heart, I think we all agree, thinks Ether is a security. He doesn’t want it to be treated like a commodity. So if he approves it, he would say it is a commodity. So it goes against its structure.”
Balchunas further says that the SEC is currently under no pressure to greenlight a spot Ethereum ETF, unlike the case of the spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETF, whose approval was preceded by Grayscale winning a lawsuit against the market regulator .
In the ruling against the regulator, the judge ruled that it was unlawful for the SEC to approve an exchange-traded product in Grayscale Bitcoin.
“I don’t think there’s any political wiggle room for Gensler, and I don’t think he wants to either. But Bitcoin had all those things to offer; there was a case they had lost, Gensler was okay with it being a commodity and the political situation wasn’t that tense.”
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