VanEck, CoinShares CEOs not feeling very optimistic about SEC's approval of spot Ethereum ETFs: CNBC

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Quick Take

VanEck CEO Jan van Eck told CNBC in an interview posted on Tuesday that he expects the VanEck Ethereum ETF to be rejected in May.
Weeks before the approvals of spot bitcoin ETFs, documents were frequently filed reflecting changes presumably sought by the SEC. That’s not been the case for spot Ethereum ETFs.

Firms that gained the Securities and Exchange Commission's approval for a spot bitcoin exchange-traded fund are not feeling very confident that the agency will greenlight proposals for an ether product, according to reporting from CNBC.

VanEck CEO Jan van Eck told CNBC in an interview posted on Tuesday that he expected the VanEck Ethereum ETF to be rejected in May – the first deadline approaching for when the SEC will decide whether to allow those products to pass.

“The way the legal process goes is the regulators will give you comments on your application, and that happened for weeks and weeks before the bitcoin ETFs — and right now, pins are dropping as far as ethereum is concerned,” van Eck told CNBC.

Big-name firms, including Fidelity and BlackRock, have applied for a spot ether ETF over the last few months. Optimism gained steam after the SEC approved 11 spot bitcoin ETFs in January, but has since dwindled over the past few weeks.

CoinShares CEO Jean-Marie Mognetti also told CNBC he was pessimistic about the chances of getting the go-ahead from the SEC. Mognetti said he didn't expect approvals at all this year.

Lowered expectations

Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas lowered his estimate last month of the chances of a spot Ethereum ETF approval by May from about 70% to 30%. The cycle for a spot Ethereum ETF felt like the opposite of when spot bitcoin ETFs were approved, Balchunas had said. Weeks before the approvals of spot bitcoin ETFs, documents were frequently filed reflecting changes presumably sought by the SEC.

Balchunas said his odds hadn't changed as of Monday.

"As we've said, need SEC to give comments on the filing documents (the 'critical feedback' he mentions) and that still ain't happening, even in person they offering nothing. Silence is violence," Balchunas said on X.

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Sarah is a reporter at The Block covering policy, regulation and legal happenings. Before, Sarah was a reporter with CQ Legal writing about securities regulation, which is where she first started reporting on crypto. Sarah has also written for The Bond Buyer and American Banker, among other finance-related publications. She graduated from the University of Missouri and earned a degree in print and digital journalism. Sarah is based in Washington D.C., and is an avid coffee lover. You can follow her on Twitter @ForTheWynn.