Gensler Sees Ethereum Spot ETF Approval This Summer

Spot Ethereum ETFs may be approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission this summer, Chairman Gary Gensler told U.S. senators at a hearing Thursday.

Gensler, speaking to a subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said “I would envision sometime over the course of this summer…”  that ETFs based on the spot price of Ethereum would be approved. U.S. Senator Hagerty, a Tennessee Republican, replied: “If you’re indicating to me that those applications will be approved by the end of the summer, I appreciate that.”

Ethereum ETFs received a preliminary green light last month when the SEC approved a rule change for the Nasdaq, NYSE and CBOE that would permit the new funds to trade. That approval surprised markets, as the SEC hadn’t seemed to be in a rush to approve spot Ethereum ETFs, and according to published reports, appeared to have little contact with potential issuers over the matter.

The Ethereum ETF approval is now enmeshed in Presidential campaign politics. The sudden turnaround by the SEC is widely seen as Democrats’ trying to win the support of cryptocurrency fans who may be likely to embrace Donald Trump after the presumed Republican nominee made overtures their way.

Ethereum ETFs and Politics

Days before the SEC rule change on May 23, Trump reversed his previous skepticism toward crypto and began accepting donations in digital currencies. He also said that he wanted to build a “crypto army” among supporters. Democrats, observers said, didn’t want to appear anti-crypto.

Gensler was appointed by President Biden and had previously served under former President Barack Obama as Commodity Futures Trading Commission chair.  

Ethereum prices dipped less than a percent this morning. While the price has doubled over the past year, it has slumped 10% over the past seven days.

Ethereum ETFs also tumbled: the ProShares Ether Strategy ETF (EETH), the VanEck Ethereum Strategy ETF (EFUT) and the Bitwise Ethereum Strategy ETF (AETH) all dropped more than 2%.