Following the approval of the Ethereum spot ETFs (exchange-traded funds), potential issuers have had to wait for the trading debuts of their products. This has led to much commentary and speculation on the possible date for the final approvals of the Ether ETFs.
Bloomberg analyst Eric Balchunas is the latest personality to predict when the Ethereum spot ETFs could begin trading in the United States.
Why Ethereum Spot ETFs May Start Trading By July 2
In a recent post on the X platform, Balchunas put forward July 2, 2024, as the new projected date for when the spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds could begin trading. This update is based on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) response to issuers on Friday, June 14.
According to the ETF expert, the SEC made “pretty light” comments to the issuers’ S-1 forms, with no major issues to address. Balchunas also mentioned that the commission expects issuers to reply to these comments in a week.
The SEC has approved the 19b-4 forms for eight potential issuers, notably BlackRock, Fidelity, VanEck, and Franklin Templeton. The agency would also need to greenlight the S-1 forms for the Ethereum spot ETFs to go live.
Balchunas wrote in his post on X:
Decent chance they work to declare them effective the next week and get it off their plate before the holiday weekend. Anything is possible but this is our best guess as of now.
Note: our previous over/under was July 4th so this isn't major shift but 1) we startted to feel like it would take longer so this is kinda good news and b) we basically decide the over/under on where are most torn 50-50 on where to bet and July 2nd is that date right now.
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) June 14, 2024
Recently, SEC chair Gary Gensler said to senators during a budget hearing that the final approvals for the Ethereum spot ETFs should be finished by summer. The final launch of these products is expected to attract significant capital inflow into the second-largest cryptocurrency and the market.
Ethereum Demand On The Rise Ahead Of ETF Launch
The latest on-chain data shows that there has been an increased demand for Ethereum, especially from permanent investors. This revelation is based on a significant spike in CryptoQuant’s Permanent Holders Inflows metric.
Permanent holders, or hodlers, refer to participants who can choose to hold a cryptocurrency for longer periods and won’t be taken out easily by market volatility. According to the on-chain analytics firm, this class of investors scooped up 298,000 BTC on Wednesday, June 12.
Considering the amount acquired by the permanent holders, it is likely that institutions are responsible for this acquisition, as they try to position themselves well in the market ahead of the impending launch of the Ethereum spot ETFs.
