Bloomberg Analyst Ether ETFs to Play Second Fiddle to Bitcoin ETFs

The upcoming introduction of spot Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the United States may play a secondary role compared to the more established spot Bitcoin ETFs.
Eric Balchunas, a senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg, anticipates that the inflows following the debut of spot Ether (ETH) ETFs could fall short of the remarkable inflows seen with spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs.
In an interview with Cointelegraph, Balchunas remarked that while Bitcoin is commonly viewed as “digital gold,” Ethereum and its extensive decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem are more comparable to a tech stock, making it a more challenging concept for traditional retail investors to grasp.
Despite industry expectations weighing heavily on the performance of spot Ether ETFs against the highly successful launch of spot Bitcoin ETFs, some experts are optimistic about the potential of the Ether ETF debut to attract substantial inflows.
Ophelia Snyder, co-founder of 21Shares, expressed confidence in the Ether ETF launch’s ability to draw investment. However, Snyder advised investors to temper their expectations, noting that the inflows seen with the Bitcoin ETF launch were notably exceptional.
Data from Dune reveals that spot Bitcoin ETFs in the US accumulated over $701 million worth of Bitcoin in the first week and surpassed $540 billion in the second week of trading.
SEC Chair Gary Gensler mentioned on June 25 that the Ether ETF launch is progressing smoothly in the US, but remained ambiguous about the possibility of the ETFs going live before the November election.
While the SEC approved 19b-4 filings from eight ETF applicants on May 23, the asset managers are fine-tuning their Form S-1 filings, the final step required for SEC approval before they can commence trading.
Speculations from analysts suggest that the SEC might greenlight the funds for trading as early as the initial week of July.