Ether ETFs Likely Won't Get Approved in May, Bloomberg Analyst Predicts

• Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart believes a spot ether exchange-traded fund won't get approved in May.
• Seyffart and his colleague had previously seen a 35% chance that one or more of the issuers will receive a green light.

Odds that spot ether ETFs will get approved in May have gotten slimmer, according to a Bloomberg ETF analyst who cited U.S. regulators' seeming lack of engagement with potential issuers over the products.

“We now believe these will ultimately be denied on May 23rd for this round,” Bloomberg Intelligence ETF analyst James Seyffart wrote in a post on X on Tuesday. Seyffart and his colleague Eric Balchunas had previously given 35% odds for approval in May.

The Securities and Exchange Commission postponed a decision on a spot ether exchange-traded fund previously, but it will have to make one by May 23, as that is the final deadline for one of the applicants.

Currently, seven issuers are hoping to launch an ether fund: BlackRock, Fidelity, Invesco with Galaxy, Grayscale, VanEck, 21Shares with Ark, and Hashdex.

Seyffart noted that the SEC hasn't gone back and forth with issuers over the spot ether ETF, a contrast to the extensive discussions that took place before spot bitcoin ETFs were approved in January.