Looking past the cynicism that shrouds the crypto-market, experts at Steno Research are predicting significant potential for the soon-to-launch spot ether ETFs in the U.S. They anticipate that net inflows could surge to as high as $20 billion within the first year, given ether’s appeal to Wall Street.
Even when factoring in the outflows from the Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETHE), the agency’s senior analyst Mads Eberhardt points towards a likely inflow between $15 billion and $20 billion in the initial 12 months. This influx, Eberhardt suggests, would drive up ether’s value both in dollar terms and against its crypto counterpart, bitcoin.
Steno’s latest report speculates that ether’s value will touch at least $6,500 later this year, attributing this rise to both the projected inflows in spot ETFs and other beneficial factors. The much-anticipated spot ether ETFs are gearing up for trading as per last month’s go-ahead from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Reports forecasting the approval of the S-1 filings hint that these new products could hit the trading floor as soon as next week.
Steno’s vision for the ether-to-bitcoin ratio is optimistic, suggesting a strengthening to 0.065 later this year if anticipated inflows play out as predicted. The report also signifies that ether ETFs, in comparison to bitcoin ETFs, will see a more profound impact due to ether’s smaller market capitalization and limited liquidity. This indicates potential upside surprises with ETH spot ETF inflows.
Compared to Steno’s bullish stance, other predictors like Galaxy Research and Asset Manager Bitwise offer more conservative estimates, suggesting net inflows of $5 billion in the first five months and $15 billion in the first 18 months respectively.