According to a report by “The Block,” investment bank TD Cowen believes that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will not approve an Ethereum spot ETF in the short term. The TD Cowen Washington Research Group, led by Jaret Seiberg, stated in a report last week:
Several large companies, including BlackRock and Fidelity, have recently submitted applications for Ethereum spot ETFs, with the first deadline for reviewing such funds set in May.
SEC Chairman is not in a hurry to take action
While approving Bitcoin spot ETFs, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler stated that due to the federal court giving SEC no choice in the lawsuit filed by Grayscale Investments, the agency could only approve these funds.
Gensler stated at the time, “While we have approved the listing and trading of several Bitcoin spot ETP shares today, we have not approved or endorsed Bitcoin,” and added that he holds the view that “the vast majority of crypto-assets are investment contracts and should therefore be subject to federal securities laws.”
TD Cowen stated that the approval of Bitcoin spot ETFs is consistent with the bank’s view that Gensler is “taking a slow approach similar to the institution’s rule-making for the ABS market.” The bank stated that this approval will also “not accelerate the timetable for cryptocurrency market structure legislation.”
TD Cowen stated:
According to TD Cowen, Gensler’s term will end in June 2026, and until then, he may maintain the Democratic Party’s majority seats in the SEC. The bank stated, “This is another reason why we believe Gensler is not in a hurry to take action,” and added that Gensler has time to file more cases and wait for more court rulings instead of trying to rush legislative action.
TD Cowen concluded:
JPMorgan: Probability is not over 50%
With the approval of Bitcoin spot ETFs, traders are now betting that an Ethereum spot ETF may be the next product to be approved, with the price of Ethereum (ETH) rising over 10% in the past week. According to a previous report by Zombit, Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas believes that the probability of an Ethereum spot ETF being approved in May this year is as high as 70%, while Standard Chartered predicts the approval timeframe to be in the second quarter of this year.
However, apart from TD Cowen, there are other analysts who are not optimistic about the approval of an Ethereum spot ETF in the short term. JPMorgan analyst Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou stated in an interview with “The Block” last week:
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