Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart said he and his colleagues believe spot Ethereum ETFs could launch around July 15 as the application process settles.
Seyffart posted the prediction on social media on July 3 but said he has “low confidence in those launch date predictions at this point.”
The prediction is related to Bitwise’s amendment to its spot Ethereum ETF application on July 3. Seyffart noted that the only significant change was adding a six-month fee waiver for the first $500 million in assets. Seyffart said:
“These changes were very minimal and [I don’t know] why the ETFs wouldn’t be ready to go within a couple weeks.”
He added that there is no official timeline for approvals, and the SEC’s Division of Corporate Finance is “taking [its] time” approving each fund.
“Literally nothing’
Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said the latest round of comments involved “literally nothing” and asserted the funds should have begun trading already.
He added that the light comments also allowed Bitwise to amend its application sooner than the July 8 deadline that it and other applicants are expected to meet.
Balchunas said that all indications suggest a “launch [is] still on for this month.”
Meanwhile, ETF Store president Nate Geraci believes applicants will submit one more round of amendments to add fees before the funds can begin trading.
SEC issued exchange approvals in May
On May 23, the SEC approved 19b-4 rule changes, allowing exchanges to list and trade the pending spot Ethereum ETFs. The agency must now approve S-1 registration statements to permit asset managers to issue the funds, but there is no deadline by which it must do so.
Balchunas said the final approvals are guaranteed, noting:
“Good news is [the SEC] approved [the 19-b4s], this is just logistics and issuers at their mercy timeline wise.”
Balchunas previously predicted spot Ethereum ETFs would launch before July 4, calling the prediction an “over/under” date. He extended the earlier prediction in late June as the SEC asked applicants to amend their S-1 registration statements by July 8.
Other applicants have backed a near-future launch for the Ethereum ETFs. Galaxy Digital, which has an application pending with Invesco, expects the funds to launch in a matter of weeks.