Recently, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse announced in an interview with Bloomberg that he saw the proliferation of token ETFs and cryptocurrencies other than bitcoin as inevitable.
Garlinghouse even announced the possibility of ETFs made up of baskets of crypto assets. An investment method like that would help, according to Ripple's CEO, to diversify investors' portfolios and counteract risk.
Analysts have diverse views on the subject. Some, like Nate Geracci, believe that, like bitcoin ETFs, Ethereum ETFs harbor surprising and unsuspected potential. This potential would be due to the current market capitalization of ether (ETH), which represents a third of the total capitalization of bitcoin.
A low market capitalization always implies that an asset needs less capital inflow to appreciate faster compared to a cryptocurrency with a higher market cap.
Eric Balchunas, the Senior ETF Analyst for Bloomberg, believes that the reputation and eminence of Ethereum compared to that of Bitcoin separates one asset from the other too much in the eyes of regulators.
Yes, I stick with my Sister Hazel metaphor, which is not to say that ETH and Hazel are not popular, but they are not in the same league as Nirvana. They sold 2 million albums and Nirvanas 75 million. BITO has 2.5b. EETH is 25m. And that is why it is difficult to get into its approval process against BTC.
Eric Balchunas, financial analyst.
This opinion from Balchunas is in line with those who postulate that an Ethereum ETF approval is unlikely due to the regulatory status of this cryptocurrency, which is seen as a security or value.
Max Keiser, filmmaker, documentary filmmaker and considered a bitcoin pioneer, has a less than moderate position on Ethereum ETFs. In his opinion , BlackRock knows, due to its proximity to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, that only bitcoin has a future in the industry . So, “why muddy the waters with shitcoin ETFs that only distract the market?”
When would Ethereum ETFs arrive?
Steven McClurg, Valkyrie's investment director, believes that they would still be one or two years away from arriving if they arrive at all . For this expert, the differences between Bitcoin and Ethereum are abysmal.
To further complicate matters, some of the spot ETF clearance applications submitted to the SEC give a role to staking . This would add a layer of difficulty to understanding and approving these Ethereum ETFs.
In his own words, "it will take a long time for the SEC to understand what the disclosures are like for such a product."
