In an exclusive interview with Cointelegraph, John Lo, the founder of Recharge Capital, expressed doubts about the likelihood of a spot Ether exchange-traded fund (ETF) approval compared to past approvals for Bitcoin ETFs in the United States. He anticipates heightened scrutiny from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) towards upcoming crypto-based ETFs, particularly Ether ETFs. The SEC's previous approval of Bitcoin ETFs due to pressure from cases like Grayscale is seen as a significant factor influencing their approach.

Various companies such as BlackRock, Grayscale, Fidelity, Invesco Galaxy, VanEck, Hashdex, and Franklin Templeton are competing for an Ether ETF. Deadlines for SEC decisions on these applications range from May to August. Despite the uncertainty surrounding Ether ETF approval, Lo believes Ethereum's resilience lies in its continuous innovation and network upgrades, ensuring its survival even without an ETF.

On another front, DeFi faces challenges in attracting institutional investors due to poor user experience and high user acquisition costs. Lo highlights the critical need for improved user interfaces in DeFi applications to cater to both retail and institutional participants effectively. The high cost of acquiring users, averaging $10 to $12 per user, poses a significant barrier limiting DeFi's user base growth.

Despite these challenges, Ethereum remains a hub for DeFi activities with a substantial increase in total value locked (TVL) on the network and a rise in unique wallet addresses over the past year. The growth in TVL by 80.3% to $51 billion and a 21.6% increase in unique wallet addresses to 115,934 demonstrate Ethereum's continued prominence in the DeFi space.