VanEck head of digital assets research Matthew Sigel believes financial institutions are gearing up for the imminent launch of spot Ethereum (ETH) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the US despite the funds pending regulatory approval.
Sigel said in a social media post on June 18 that hedge funds are strategically positioning themselves as they actively anticipate the ETFs will be approved.
He added that data from K33 Research indicates a significant rise in inflows to Ether exchange-traded products (ETPs) outside the US markets, which suggests that large investors are preparing for the regulatory green light for the spot Ethereum ETFs.
According to Sigel:
“Hedge funds are front-running the ETH ETF approvals, ETH on exchanges is near an all-time low, and fundamentals are improving. I could be eating BBQ HODL hat by July 4th. And you’re bearish?”
Supporting this observation, blockchain analytics firm CryptoQuant reported a downtrend in ETH supply on exchanges, which is a sign that major players are accumulating Ethereum.
‘Open-source App store’
In a recent interview on the Bankless podcast, Sigel said that VanEck views Ethereum as an “open-source App Store,” positioning it as a more versatile and productive asset compared to Bitcoin.
The firm believes that Ethereum ETFs could eventually become more successful than their Bitcoin counterparts due to the broader market for income-producing assets.
According to Sigel:
“Overall, there’s a bigger market for income-producing assets than for inert assets like Bitcoin (BTC). It’s not impossible that in a decade, the market for an Ethereum ETF could surpass that of Bitcoin.”
Sigel emphasized the need to educate traditional financial market participants about Ethereum’s significance. He drew analogies to help clarify ETH’s potential, highlighting its productive nature and its ability to allow anyone to create a storefront on its network at a lower cost than major tech companies.
He added:
“We think of Ethereum as a productive asset that offers an open-source App Store with integrated payments functionality. We aim to elucidate the mechanics of how Ethereum works and provide a detailed analysis of its profit and loss statements.”
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