British multinational banking and financial services firm, Standard Chartered Bank, expects that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will approve Spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETF)on May 23.
Notably, this date is the SEC’s first deadline for a decision on the product. Financial firms like Grayscale, BlackRock, and VanEck are applicants for spot Ethereum ETF.
Spot Ethereum ETFs Approval Expected on May 23
The bank expects that the regulator body will employ the method they used when Spot Bitcoin ETFs were approved earlier this month. In a recent speech, Geoffrey Kendrick, head of Standard Chartered Bank’s forex and digital assets research said:
“We expect pending applications for ETH U.S. spot ETFs to be approved on May 23, the final deadline for the first of the ETFs under consideration — the equivalent date to Jan. 10 for BTC ETFs. If ETH prices perform similarly to how BTC prices performed in the lead-up to BTC ETF approval, ETH could trade as high as $4,000 by then.”
Although the bank expects the approval of the products on May 23, Kendrick said that only simple Ethereum ETFs that replicate ether price movements will likely get approved on this date, while ETFs that include staking yield rewards may be introduced later.
He also commented on Ethereum’s upcoming Dencun or Proto-Danksharding upgrade saying that it would benefit the ether price.
Reasons Behind the Bank’s Optimism
The bank’s optimism of the SEC approval of the Ethereum ETFs could be based on the ground that the regulator has not categorized ether as a security in its legal actions against crypto companies.
Additionally, the listing of ETH as a regulated futures contract on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange adds weight to this expectation. According to Kendrick, the SEC will likely not have any fundamental reason to view ETH differently than the CME already does.
Kendrick also mentioned the Grayscale ETH trust pointing out that the firm wants to turn into an ETF. Furthermore, he said that an SEC denial of the product might likely lead to another appeal by the financial company.
Despite the anticipation surrounding the spot Ethereum (ETH) ETF, its approval could extend beyond the expected timelines. However, the crypto community watches closely to see if May 23 will usher in another historic moment in cryptocurrency acceptance which could lead to a bull run for the markets.
