Eric Balchunas, senior stock analyst at Bloomberg, said that trading of spot ETH-ETFs in the United States will begin on July 23.
Update: Nate's instincts were right, hearing SEC finally gotten back to issuers today, asking them to return FINAL S-1s on Wed (incl fees) and then request effectiveness on Monday after close for a TUESDAY 7/23 LAUNCH. This is provided no unforeseeable last min issues of course! https://t.co/D21FD9Qf94
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) July 15, 2024"The SEC finally asked issuers to return the FINAL S-1 [forms] on Wednesday (including commissions), and then request entry into force on Monday after the closing of [exchange trading] for LAUNCH on TUESDAY, July 23," the expert wrote.
He added that this would happen in the absence of "unforeseen last-minute problems."
Balchunas' information was confirmed to The Block by sources in two potential issuers of exchange-traded Ethereum funds. One of the interlocutors clarified that the documents must be submitted on Wednesday before 17:30 EST (Thursday, 00:30 Kyiv, Moscow time).
In May, the SEC approved Forms 9b-4 from applicants, but S-1 regulatory approval is required to start trading products. Initially, market expectations assumed that this would happen in June.
At a Senate hearing, SEC Chief Gary Gensler called the deadline "sometime by the end of this summer," but noted that the registration process is "going smoothly."
In early July, Catherine Dowling, head of Bitwise's compliance department, confirmed that the company sees all signs of reaching the "finish line" on the issue of Ethereum-ETF.
"It is ironic and slightly funny that July 23 falls in the middle of the largest bitcoin conference of the year," Balchunas noted.
Ironic and kinda funny 7/23 is right in the middle of the biggest bitcoin conf of the year, which @JSeyff will be at btw
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) July 15, 2024The SEC approved the listing of exchange-traded funds based on the spot price of the first cryptocurrency in January. Total revenues to the products since the launch amounted to $16.11 billion.
Bernstein analysts expect less investor demand for ETH-ETFs. However, Steno Research predicted a net inflow of $15-20 billion into future Ethereum funds during the year. Against this background, experts admit an increase in the cryptocurrency exchange rate to $ 6,500.
The price of ether at the moment reached $3,500 amid reports about the launch date of exchange products. During the general market correction, the quotes dropped to the level of $3,400.
The hourly ETH/USD chart of the Bitstamp exchange. Data: TradingView.Recall that the founder of MN Trading, Michael van de Poppe, called the launch of the ETH-ETF as one of the catalysts for the outstripping growth of Ethereum during the new market cycle that has begun.