An impending U.S. government shutdown may be accelerating the launch of Ether futures ETFs, analysts suggest.
Ether (ETH) futures exchange-traded funds (ETFs) could start trading for the first time in the United States as early as next week, according to Bloomberg analysts.
On Sept. 28, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst James Seyffart said in an X post that it was “looking like the SEC is gonna let a bunch of Ethereum futures ETFs go next week potentially.”
His comments were in response to fellow ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, who said he was hearing that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission wanted to “accelerate the launch of Ether futures ETFs.”
“They want it off their plate [before] the shutdown,” he said, adding that he’s heard the various filers update their documents by Friday afternoon so they can start trading as early as Tuesday next week.
Looking like the SEC is gonna let a bunch #Ethereum futures ETFs go next week potentially https://t.co/YoBD1d1ay8
— James Seyffart (@JSeyff) September 28, 2023
The U.S. government is expected to shut down at 12:01 am ET on Oct. 1 if Congress fails to agree on or provide funding for the new fiscal year, which is expected to impact the country’s financial regulators, among other federal agencies.
Neither specified their sources for this latest update on the long list of crypto ETFs in the queue.
There are 15 Ether futures ETFs from nine issuers currently awaiting approval, according to the analysts in a Sept. 27 note.
Companies proposing an Ether futures or hybrid ETF product include VanEck, ProShares, Grayscale, Volatility Shares, Bitwise, Direxion and Roundhill.
The analysts gave Ether futures ETFs a 90% chance of launching in October, with Valkyrie’s Bitcoin (BTC) futures product poised to become the first to hold Ether exposure on Oct. 3.
“We expect pure Ethereum futures ETFs to start trading the following week thanks to Volatility Shares’ actions.”
However, “we don’t expect all of them to launch,” said the analysts.
In August, Cointelegraph reported that Ether futures ETFs may be approved in October, causing an 11% spike in ETH prices at the time. ETH prices have only gained 1% on the day and are hovering just over $1,600 at the time of writing.
However, crypto futures products aren’t as hotly anticipated as their spot-based alternatives. There have already been Bitcoin futures ETFs in the U.S. since 2021.