The cryptocurrency industry and Wall Street are eagerly awaiting potential approval of a spot Ethereum ETF as early as May by U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler, according to FOX Business reporter Eleanor Terrett.
Sentiment surrounding the approval of a spot ETF for Ethereum, the world's second-largest digital asset, in 2024 is overwhelmingly positive. This view is shared not only in the crypto industry, but also among securities lawyers and traditional Wall Street firms.
However, there are skeptics who point to Gensler's past indecisiveness regarding ETH's legality and suitability for an ETF. They argue that ETH has a less broad base or institutional support than Bitcoin, the first and most valuable digital asset in the financial sector.
Despite these concerns, many securities lawyers believe that the legal precedent set in the approval process for spot Bitcoin ETFs creates a blueprint for Ethereum counterparts to likely follow.
“The SEC will be hard-pressed to find a new argument to reject the spot ETH ETF when the same factors as the spot Bitcoin ETF approval are at play here,” said Marc Powers, a blockchain professor at Florida International University College of Law and former SEC enforcement attorney.
The approval of nearly a dozen spot BTC ETFs on January 10 was an unprecedented event, given the number of issuers launching nearly identical products and the nascent nature of digital assets.
Andrew Keys, co-founder of DARMA Capital, which manages an Ethereum investment fund, said:
“Ethereum is a different product from Bitcoin with its own unique aspects. “Many Wall Street firms and fintech companies that are building their applications on the ETH blockchain see long-term value in commercializing it.”
Both Keys and Powers cite the existence of the Ethereum futures market as another reason why the SEC would have a hard time rejecting a spot ether ETF.
Powers said in his statement:
“A fundamental part of the regulatory process is to ensure that a market in which investors operate is not subject to manipulation.
The SEC stated that the CME Bitcoin futures market provides an adequate means of oversight against manipulation in the spot market, which was a key factor in approving spot Bitcoin ETFs.”
Investment bank TD Cowan believes the SEC will eventually approve a spot ETH ETF, but that won't happen until after the November election.
*This is not investment advice.
