Prior to now, Standard Chartered was upbeat about the U.S. After accepting applications for spot ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in May, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has since updated its projection.

The bank continues to believe that spot Ethereum ETFs have a bright future.

Spot Ether ETFs: Standard Chartered's Position

Standard Chartered was once hopeful that the U.S. will approve spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in May. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is now playing down the likelihood. Though it lowers estimates for May approval, the bank is still positive on spot ether ETFs in the long term.

In a study released on Tuesday, Geoffrey Kendrick, the head of Standard Chartered's FX and cryptocurrency research, stated:

"We had previously expected the SEC toapprove ETH ETFs on May 23." This was predicated on the belief that the ETH approval process would go similarly to the BTC ETF approval process (which the SEC approved in January) and that the SEC and the ETF applicants would engage in constructive communication, just as it did prior to the BTC ETF approval.

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Kendrick detailed that the gradual removal of negative drivers should allow bullish structural drivers of BTC to take over. He further explained that a higher BTC price would also boost ETH. Even if the US ETF is not approved in May, Kendrick expects that the global environment for ETFs continues to improve, and eventual U.S. approval is anticipated.

Additionally, a number of companies and experts have lost hope that spot ether ETFs would be approved in May. CEO of Vaneck Jan Van Eck does not think that this month's SEC approval of his company's and Ark Invest's applications will occur. In a similar vein, JPMorgan analyst Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou believes spot ether ETFs have just a 50% chance of being approved in May and that the SEC will finally allow them when any outstanding legal issues have been settled.

The clearance procedure is further complicated by the SEC's position on ether. Chairman of the SEC Gary Gensler has said before that all cryptocurrency tokens, with the exception of bitcoin, are securities; however, he hasn't specifically addressed ether's categorization. 48 US legislators have put pressure on the head of the SEC to clarify whether or not ETH is a security.

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