SEC chair Gary Gensler said the timeline for spot Ethereum ETF launches depends on how quickly applicants respond to the regulator’s questions and comment on reasons for approvals.
Gensler told Reuters on June 5 that the firms are “self-motivated” to answer SEC comments and can determine their responsiveness.
Past reports suggest that the SEC will comment on recently amended S-1 registrations from eight spot Ethereum ETF issuers. The applicants will then file further amendments before launching each product.
Gensler did not say whether the process would take weeks or months.
Grayscale influenced ETH stance
The SEC chair said Grayscale’s legal win, which paved the path for spot Bitcoin ETF approvals, had also influenced the SEC’s stance on spot ETH products.
Grayscale argued for approving Bitcoin ETFs based on correlations between Bitcoin spot and futures markets, as the SEC approved Bitcoin and Ethereum futures ETFs in previous years.
Gensler previously said that the legal outcome led the SEC to approve the spot Bitcoin ETFs in January. He did not connect the outcome to the SEC’s stance on ETH until recently.
Gensler told Reuters that market correlations were key to the SEC’s approval of the latest spot Ethereum ETFs. He said:
“[SEC staff] looked at these (ether) filings … the correlations are relatively similar to the correlations in the bitcoin space.”
Gensler spoke to CNBC
Gensler made comparable comments in a June 5 CNBC interview, saying that spot ETH ETF launches could “take some time.” He did not speculate on a launch date.
Gensler also told CNBC that the SEC compared the spot Ethereum market to the Ethereum futures market in its latest decision. Gensler said that ETH futures ETFs have traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) for more than three years.
Industry experts have speculated on a launch date, with Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas predicting that the ETFs could launch by the end of June and called July 4 an over/under date.
Polymarket, which represents community bets based on staked crypto amounts, displays 57% odds that the funds could begin trading by July 4.