The fate of Ethereum ETFs looks uncertain

• The correlation between Ethereum spot and futures ETF was weaker than that of Bitcoin.
• SEC’s dubious stance on ETH’s status was causing anxiety among industry observers.

The popularity of spot Bitcoin [BTC] ETFs has created a new paradigm for the crypto market, spurring strong demand for similar investment opportunities for other currencies as well.

The next candidate in the queue was Ethereum [ETH], the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency, which was anticipating its own spot ETF in the next two months.

While the mood was largely optimistic, some concerning developments surfaced, casting doubts on the likelihood of approvals.

Radio silence between parties

Bloomberg’s senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas stated that the staff at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) were yet to give any comments regarding the ETFs to the asset managers.

Balchunas interpreted this as “not a good sign” since the regulator commented on Bitcoin spot ETFs previously.

The analyst added that the lack of dialogue between the two parties was lowering the odds of approval each day.

Moreover, the correlation between Ethereum spot and futures ETF was weaker than that of Bitcoin at press time, adding to the pessimism.

ETH’s status at the heart of the issue?

The uncertainty stemmed from the SEC’s dubious stance on the status of ETH. In a recent interaction with Bloomberg, SEC Chair Gary Gensler tiptoed around the question of ETH being a security or commodity.

Note that barring Bitcoin, the SEC hasn’t given a clean chit to any of the other tokens.

Will ETH honor the date?

Just like Bitcoin spot ETFs, asset management giants such as BlackRock and Grayscale have expressed interest in spot Ethereum ETFs.

British multinational bank Standard Chartered had predicted an approval by the 23rd of May, the final deadline for the first list of ETF applications.

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As per the research, the path to approval would be pretty much like that of Bitcoin, with the SEC dilly-dallying until eventually giving the go-ahead.

ETH was exchanging hands at $3.954 at press time, with no considerable movement in the last 24 hours, per CoinMarketCap. However, the past week was eventful as the coin recorded gains of 16.7%.