We don't need the ETF per se, we need the signal it brings. We need it for big money to flow back in, we need it for future development and some think that we may even need it for stability (although this last part is incorrect).
However, the ETF idea was rushed, hence the disaster. We need better regulation, we need to rule out the exchanges where you can "do tricks" (maybe decentralized exchanges would be the answer? I don't know.) When the market becomes more stable, when the market doesn't react this bad to a news that many of us were expecting, then the ETF will be approved. We need to clean the garbage first, then we can hope we'll shine.


Shortly, we "need" the money the ETF brings, but we need to clean the mess first, by ourselves.