Ethereum ETFs came too early

Speaking at the European Blockchain Congress, Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan expressed confidence that spot Ethereum ETFs will be successful despite a slow start.

Ethereum (ETH) exchange-traded funds may have launched too soon, crypto.news heard Hougan say at an EBC panel in Barcelona, ​​Spain, on September 25. The Bitwise executive noted that Wall Street market players were still getting used to Bitcoin’s (BTC) message when spot ETH ETFs were launched.

If we had waited another year, they would have accumulated five times as much assets. It takes a long time for people to digest Bitcoin and be ready for the next thing.

Matt Hougan, CIO Bitwise

The ETFs, which track the spot price of Ether, were launched in late July, five months after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approved similar bitcoin-backed products in January. ETF issuers have filed for options for the products, but the SEC has only approved options for BlackRock’s spot BTC ETF. The SEC has delayed its decision on options for spot ETH ETFs until November.

Some in the market believe that outflows, mostly from existing Grayscale ETH funds, have hindered spot Ether ETF success. However, Bitwise’s Hougan offered a different view, suggesting that Ethereum ETFs will inevitably attract traditional finance investors.

It’s a more complicated message, and they were still looking at Bitcoin. But it’s going to happen. We’ll wake up in a year, there’ll be $20 billion worth of Ethereum ETFs in the US, and everybody’s going to say, ‘Wow, I thought these were a bust.’ No, they’re not. These ETFs just take a while.

As of press time, the Ethereum ETF complex has seen net outflows of over $624 million. The group, led by $10 trillion asset management giant BlackRock, had assets of just over $7.2 billion.

Hougan expects the improving spot Ether ETF numbers to be consistent with a resurgence in ETH’s narrative. While Bitcoin thrived under the “digital gold” narrative and Solana attracted attention with its fast transactions, Ethereum lagged behind, Hougan said.

But it will end. I think the market is coming back to Ethereum but it took a while.

Ethereum surged 14% last week to top $2,600, with some experts predicting the second-largest cryptocurrency could have a bullish fourth quarter driven by Federal Reserve rate cuts and renewed optimism in the virtual currency market.

24-hour ETH price chart – September 25 | Source: crypto.news