David Edwards
Steven McClurg, the Chief Investment Officer at Valkyrie, has shared his view that the approval of a spot Ethereum ETF might still be a year or two away, despite the interest from major firms like Fidelity and BlackRock in launching such ETFs. Currently, Valkyrie isn’t pursuing an ETF themselves.
The crypto sector has been buoyed by the recent success following the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) approval of the first spot Bitcoin ETFs in the country, which have attracted substantial investments since their debut. However, the prospects for a spot Ethereum ETF appearing anytime soon seem slim.
McClurg noted in an interview that launching the spot Bitcoin ETF involved considerable effort from both the firms involved and regulators, including the SEC, due to the novelty of the asset class and the learning curve associated with it. He pointed out that the differences between Bitcoin and Ethereum might require the SEC to take additional time to understand the nuances and determine the necessary disclosures for an Ethereum-based product.
He also mentioned that the inclusion of a staking component in some Ethereum ETF applications could complicate matters further, suggesting that staking ETH could be seen as a security feature, which adds another layer of complexity to the approval process.
Discussing the possibility of a spot XRP ETF amidst Ripple’s ongoing legal issues with the SEC, which began with a lawsuit in 2020 accusing Ripple of conducting an unregistered securities offering through its XRP sales, McClurg highlighted that Bitcoin, ETH, and XRP have not been classified as securities by either the SEC or the courts.
He wrapped up by suggesting that while the focus is currently on these discussions, there might be other altcoins considered non-securities in the future that could potentially be included in an ETF. McClurg expressed anticipation for what the next year might bring in terms of developments in this area.
