A key moment for spot ETFs of ether (ETH), Ethereum's native cryptocurrency, is approaching after the chairman of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Gary Gensler, revealed when the funds would be approved.
Gensler specified that cryptocurrency-based funds would be approved “sometime during the course of this summer,” Fox Business journalist Eleanor Terrett reported. Summer in the northern hemisphere ends on September 21.
The US official made the statements during a hearing of the Senate Appropriations Committee of that country.
There he was also encouraged by Republican Senator Bill Hagerty to focus on regulatory clarity for cryptocurrencies. “This industry needs to have a proper ecosystem,” he noted. Gensler responded and said breaking the law and not liking the law is different than lack of clarity.
For his part, Hagerty says there is still a lot of uncertainty and lack of clarity from the SEC and that "it doesn't have to be that way," Terrett said.
Last May, the US body granted regulatory approval to 8 Ethereum ETFs proposed by the companies VanEck, Ark21Shares, Hashdex, Grayscale, Invesco Galaxy, BlackRock and Fidelity.
The SEC approved Forms 19b-4 but they have not yet been cleared for release. For this to happen, the same body must give the green light for the S-1 application.
This is a document in which the issuing companies detail their risk profile, finances and the values that they intend to offer these financial instruments.
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Several requesting companies have already begun to take the relevant steps related to the S-1 request , as is the case of BlackRock and VanEck.
While in the United States both regulators and companies are involved in regulatory issues, several countries have taken the lead in this regard.
Hong Kong is an example of those that have made progress in this matter. Last April, spot bitcoin and ether ETFs were approved in the Asian archipelago.
Ether and bitcoin funds in Hong Kong would hardly have been issued without the approval of the Chinese Government. Hong Kong is often said to be the testing ground for mainland China. If ETFs are successful there, perhaps China will decide to relax its restrictions on cryptocurrencies, so as not to be left out of a multibillion-dollar market.
