Standard Chartered, a leading investment bank, said US regulators are unlikely to approve spot ETFs that give investors access to Ethereum (ETH) in May. This came as a surprise, as the bank had previously expected the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to approve it during this period.
The approval of spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs in January sparked a significant rally in the world's largest cryptocurrency. Despite the changing landscape for an ETH ETF, Standard Chartered maintains its non-bearish stance. In a research report published today, the bank stated that the market is in a good position for recovery despite the negativities that digital assets have faced recently.
“Inflows into Bitcoin ETFs have stalled and ETH ETFs are unlikely to be approved in May as expected,” analyst Geoff Kendrick wrote. Kendrick had previously predicted that ETH spot ETFs would likely gain approval on May 23, according to a March 18 report.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently targeted decentralized finance (DeFi) by suing Uniswap. Other factors contributing to the market's volatility include the increase in the yield of US Treasury bonds, the postponement of interest rate cuts by the FED, and the impact of escalating conflicts in the Middle East on BTC and ETH, which are considered risky assets.
However, Standard Chartered believes that the negative news is already reflected in Bitcoin and ETH prices. The bank expects “positive structural drivers” to regain influence. Standard Chartered reiterated its year-end bitcoin price target at $150,000 and its Ethereum forecast at $8,000. At the time of the report, BTC was trading around $66,800 and ETH was close to $3,237.
The report also noted that the market position is much cleaner than before, with a $261 million leveraged long position removed from the Bitcoin futures market on April 13 in response to Iran's attack on Israel. This marks the largest daily liquidation since October 2023.
Bitcoin spot ETF inflows have likely slowed due to macro reasons such as higher US Treasury yields and geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. The bank also noted that the first wave of ETF buying may have been largely completed, indicating a temporary pause in a strong positive driver of the market. The next wave of buying is expected to come from the incorporation of these ETFs into broader macro funds, but this may take some time.
*This is not investment advice.