According to U.Today, during a recent Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services hearing, Gary Gensler, the Chair of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), expressed his expectation that the agency would approve S-1 forms for spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) over the summer. Gensler was responding to Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) when he made this statement. The SEC had previously approved the listing and trading of eight Ether ETFs by sanctioning their respective rule changes (19b-4 forms). However, this approval is part of a two-step process. Before Ethereum ETFs can be launched, they must overcome another obstacle: the SEC's approval of S-1 registration forms that provide detailed information about the products to be offered to the public.
In late May, the SEC requested updated S-1 forms from potential issuers. ETF analyst Nate Geraci expressed his anticipation for the changes in the next batch of amended S-1s, stating that there shouldn't be much work left to do. James Seyffart, a respected Bloomberg analyst, also expressed confidence that Ethereum ETFs would be launched this summer. He stated that while his prediction of a July launch was purely speculative, he was more confident in stating that Ethereum ETFs would be launched at some point over the summer.
U.Today also reported that JPMorgan predicted that Ethereum ETFs would attract modest inflows compared to Bitcoin ETFs. Meanwhile, Bitcoin ETFs have recorded $100 million worth of inflows, with Fidelity's Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund (FBTC) leading the way.