According to Standard Chartered, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is expected to approve spot Ethereum ETFs, following a similar strategy used for spot Bitcoin ETFs.
According to a report published by Standard Chartered, this process will likely start with rejections and lead to approval by the first deadline of May 23.
Geoffrey Kendrick, head of forex and digital assets research at Standard Chartered Bank, said in a report on Tuesday:
“We expect pending applications for Ethereum spot ETFs in the US to be approved by May 23, which is the equivalent date of January 10 for BTC ETFs and the deadline for the first of the ETFs under consideration.”
Kendrick also suggested that if ETH prices perform similar to how BTC prices did in the lead-up to BTC ETF approval, ETH could rise to $4,000 by then.
Kendrick predicts spot Ethereum ETFs will be approved because the SEC has not categorized ETH as a security in its legal actions against cryptocurrency companies. According to the analyst, ETH's listing as a regulated futures contract on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange supports this expectation.
Grayscale also owns an ETH trust that it aims to convert into an ETF. “We see no fundamental reason for the SEC to view ETH differently than CME currently sees it,” Kendrick added.
Kendrick has an optimistic outlook on crypto in general, and price trends in particular. He previously predicted that spot Bitcoin ETFs will inflow between $50-100 billion this year and could raise the Bitcoin price to $100,000 by the end of the year and $200,000 by the end of 2025. Kendrick maintains that the $100,000 price prediction “still looks achievable” and expects steady inflows into spot Bitcoin ETFs to gradually push the Bitcoin price higher.
Kendrick also commented on Ethereum's upcoming Dencun or Proto-Danksharding update, stating that it will benefit the ETH price:
“Overall, this update will enable more value to be captured in the ETH ecosystem, as lower Layer 2 fees will make ETH more competitive and slower staking will keep staking rewards higher for longer. Both of these are positive for ETH prices.”
*This is not investment advice.