A group of eight spot Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the United States are close to launching, according to Katherine Dowling, chief compliance officer at Bitwise. While the exact launch date is still unknown, Dowling mentioned that there are fewer issues being discussed with the SEC, which is a positive sign. The Form S-1s, which provide information about the issuer and the securities being offered, are in the final stages of approval before the products can go live.
SEC Chair Gary Gensler has predicted that the spot Ether ETFs will be launched sometime in the summer. However, Dowling mentioned that it has been a long wait for issuers, who have been waiting for six weeks for their S-1 registration statements to be approved. Despite the delay, there is optimism that the ETFs could attract up to $15 billion in inflows within the first 18 months of trading.
In addition to Bitcoin and Ether products, the SEC has also been open to discussions about other cryptocurrencies. The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) recently filed applications to list spot Solana ETFs on behalf of VanEck and 21Shares. However, Dowling expressed doubts about the approval of a third spot cryptocurrency ETF under Gensler’s leadership. Senior Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Blachunas shared a similar sentiment, suggesting that a spot Solana ETF application would face challenges if Gensler remained as the head of the financial regulator.