Standard Chartered executives said that similar to Ethereum, other altcoins that have previously been subject to SEC investigation, such as the XRP incident, may also be exempt from ‘secured’ status.
With the U.S. SEC approving a spot Ethereum ETF on Thursday, May 23, market analysts are starting to talk about similar investment products for other altcoins. Standard Chartered Bank analyst Geoffrey Kendrick believes the next chapter for cryptocurrency ETFs will unfold next year in 2025.
Kendrick leads digital asset research at Standard Chartered Bank. He said this in an interview with The Block publication on Friday.
“For other coins (e.g. SOL and
Kendrick added that yesterday’s approval of the spot Ether ETF suggests that altcoins are not ‘securities’ as the SEC previously stated. He therefore hinted that other altcoins that have previously been subject to SEC investigation, such as the XRP case, may also be exempt from ‘secure’ status. Coinbase’s legal director also said yesterday that the approval means Ethereum (ETH) is a commodity. He added:
“In some cases, the core technology is so similar to ETH that it will be difficult for the SEC to argue that it is a security given ETH’s position. The cryptocurrency industry now appears to have political support on both sides.”
In addition to Kendrick, other market participants also joined in introducing the spot Solana ETF. Anthony Scaramucci, founder of SkyBridge Capital, said he will be working to prepare a Solana ETF soon.
We are going to get a $SOL ETF get ready.
— Anthony Scaramucci (@Scaramucci) May 24, 2024
Bitcoin dominance will continue to grow
Kendrick expects dominance over both Bitcoin and Ethereum to increase. He remains optimistic and expects significant inflows, particularly into spot Bitcoin ETFs, which could push the price of Bitcoin to $150,000 by the end of the year.
“A portfolio containing both BTC and ETH ETFs is likely to be attractive, and the SEC’s decision on ETH further validates the industry,” he said.
On Thursday, the SEC only approved the 19b-4 filing for a spot Ethereum ETF, with the S-1 registration still pending, after which the ETF would begin trading. As for the Ethereum ETF, Kendrick expects trading to begin next month. He reiterated his belief that these funds could attract inflows ranging from $15 billion to $45 billion within the first 12 months. He also reaffirmed his previous prediction that Ethereum would reach $8,000 by the end of the year.
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