Speaking at the European Blockchain Convention, Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan expressed confidence that spot Ethereum ETFs will succeed despite a slow start.
Ethereum (ETH) exchange-traded funds may have launched too early, crypto.news heard Hougan say during an EBC panel on Sept. 25 in Barcelona, Spain. The Bitwise executive noted that Wall Street market players were still acclimatizing to Bitcoinâs (BTC) message, when spot ETH ETFs debuted.
They would have raised five times more assets if we had waited another year. It takes people a long time to digest Bitcoin and be ready for the next thing.
Matt Hougan, Bitwise CIO
ETFs tracking Etherâs spot price launched in late July, over five months after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved similar products backed by Bitcoin in January. Issuers have applied for options on these products, but the SEC has only approved options for BlackRockâs spot BTC ETF. The SEC delayed its verdict for options for spot ETH ETFs till November.
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Outflows, mostly from existing Grayscale ETH funds, have hindered spot Ether ETF success, according to some in the market. However, Bitwiseâs Hougan offered a different view, suggesting that Ethereum ETFs will inevitably attract traditional finance investors.
Itâs a more complex message, and they were still getting their hands around Bitcoin. But itâll happen. Weâll wake up a year from now, there will be $20 billion in Ethereum ETFs in the U.S., and everyone will say, âWow, I thought they were a bust.â No, they werenât bust. These ETFs just take a while.
As of writing, the Ethereum ETF complex has seen over $624 million in net outflows. The group, led by $10 trillion asset management giant BlackRock, held just over $7.2 billion in assets.
Hougan expects improved spot Ether ETF numbers to align with a resurgence in ETHâs narrative. While Bitcoin has thrived under the âdigital goldâ narrative and Solana has gained attention for its fast transactions, Ethereum has lagged, according to Hougan.
That will end, though. I think the market is coming back around to Ethereum, but itâs taken some time.
Ethereum has grown 14% in the past week and was back above $2,600. Some experts speculate that the second-largest cryptocurrency could experience a bullish fourth quarter, driven by Federal Reserve rate cuts and renewed optimism in the virtual currency market.
24-hour ETH price chart â Sept. 25 | Source: crypto.news
Read more: SEC pushes back Ethereum ETF options decision to November
