According to Bloomberg’s James Seyffart, asking for public comments on ETFs is standard procedure.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) set off a short-lived celebration on “Crypto Twitter” after requesting public comments on applications to list spot ETH exchange traded funds (ETF). But a well-known analyst says not so fast.
On April 2, the SEC called for comments regarding three funds vying for a spot Ethereum ETF: Grayscale, Bitwise, and Fidelity. The latter recently added staking to their application.
Comments are due in 21 days.
Ethereum’s ETH remained virtually unfazed by the news, and is up 1.2% to $3,315. Crypto markets took a sharp downturn yesterday amid a strengthening dollar, and ETH has been no exception, dropping 5% in the past seven days.
“Giga Bullish”
While some called the news “Giga Bullish,” James Seyffart, ETF analyst for Bloomberg, quickly reeled expectations in.
“Asking for public comments on a 19b-4 is standard procedure,” Seyffart wrote on X on April 3. “Every single 19b-4 ETF filing goes through the same process (whether approved or denied). It’s not ‘bullish’ in any capacity for Ethereum ETFs,” he added.
In another post on April 2, he pointed out that “Silence from the SEC isn’t a good thing here.”
Seyffart and his colleague Eric Balchunas have been somewhat bearish on the U.S. agency approving a spot Ethereum ETF.
In a tweet posted by Balchunas on March 28, he wrote that the team places odds at a “pessimistic” 25%, adding that he’d “go lower” if he could. He attributed the number to the seven week deadline along with the SEC’s radio silence–calling the latter “bleak.”
In addition to Grayscale, Fidelity, and Bitwise, a number of firms have applied for a spot Ethereum ETF. These include BlackRock–which has been on an accumulation spree for BTC through its spot Bitcoin ETF–Ark Invest, and Franklin Templeton.
BlackRock, whose CEO Larry Fink sees value in an Ethereum ETF, and Fidelity are first in line to receive an answer from the SEC, in May.
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