Ether could hit $4,000 with likely spot ETH ETF approval in may

Led by research head Geoff Kendrick, the StanChart analysts expect that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) – as it did with Bitcoin – will delay decisions on spot ETF applications until eventually giving a green light on the first final deadline. This puts May 23 as provisional day for an approval, the date of final deadlines for applications by asset managers VanEck and Ark/21Shares.

The market currently underestimates the odds of an approval, according to the report, but the bank sees “no fundamental reason” for the SEC to treat ETH differently than bitcoin. It highlighted that ETH futures are also listed on the regulated Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) and the SEC did not include ETH among the 67 cryptocurrencies the agency claims to be securities during its legal fight against Ripple.