According to Cathie Wood, CEO of Ark Invest, the US is likely to only approve Bitcoin and Ethereum spot ETFs. This is due to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) preference for the two largest crypto tokens by market cap.
The SEC’s Approval for Bitcoin and Ethereum
In an interview with WSJ’s Take On The Week podcast, Cathie Wood stated that it would be surprising to see any other crypto ETFs approved by the SEC. This aligns with the predictions of experts who have previously stated that an XRP ETF is unlikely to launch in the near future.
Steven McClurg, Chief Investment Officer at Valkyrie Investments, has suggested that the approval of Spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs could pave the way for ETF filings for other tokens.
It is worth noting that Ark Invest is one of the issuers of the existing Spot Bitcoin ETFs (ARK 21 Shares Bitcoin ETF) and has also applied for a Spot Ethereum ETF with the SEC.
However, there is no indication that ARK Invest plans to file for ETFs for other crypto tokens, as Wood’s recent comment explains.
Although the SEC has yet to approve the pending Spot Ethereum ETFs, industry experts are optimistic that the Commission will authorize them, similar to the Spot Bitcoin ETFs. During a panel discussion at the Exchange ETF conference, Bitwise’s Chief Investment Officer stated that it is likely that we will see an ETH ETF in the near future.
The Unlikelihood of Other Crypto ETFs Being Approved by the SEC
Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart has previously explained why the SEC is unlikely to approve other crypto ETFs, specifically an XRP ETF. He suggests that XRP futures must be traded on a regulated market, such as the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), before the SEC can consider any applications.
This aligns with the SEC’s concerns about potential market manipulation related to these crypto tokens. The Commission had previously rejected Spot Bitcoin ETF applications on these grounds but was forced to approve them when the court ruled in Grayscale’s case that the futures and spot market are correlated.
Since Bitcoin futures were actively trading on the CME and Bitcoin futures ETFs were already in existence, Grayscale was able to argue that the Spot market deserved the same treatment as the futures market.
Chart from Tradingview
