On May 23, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved spot Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs), marking a notable difference from the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs in January.
Unlike the Bitcoin ETFs, which were approved via voting by a five-member committee including SEC chief Gary Gensler, the spot Ether ETFs were approved by the SEC’s Trading and Markets Division.
The SEC greenlit the 19b-4 filings from several firms including BlackRock, Fidelity, Grayscale, Bitwise, VanEck, Ark, Invesco Galaxy, and Franklin Templeton.
The Commission did not provide additional comments beyond the official decision.
The official filing stated: “For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated authority.”
While the crypto community questioned the differing approval processes, Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart explained it as a routine procedure.
He noted that many approvals are typically handled in this manner and requiring an official vote for every decision would be impractical. Seyffart added, “It would have been nice to see where the political lines were drawn.”
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However, some individuals remain skeptical of Seyffart’s assessment.
One user on X pointed out that a commissioner could still challenge the decision within the next 10 days, suggesting that delegated authority might be used to obscure potentially politically charged votes.
Another user on X speculated that the SEC’s decision was influenced by various factors, including political pressure, upcoming elections, and the implementation of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) rules.
A significant difference between the approval processes for the two crypto ETFs is the timeline for trading.
All 11 Bitcoin ETFs began trading the day after their approval, as they also received S-1 form clearance.
In contrast, spot Ether ETFs might take weeks or months to debut on exchanges since the ETF filers have not yet received the S-1 SEC registration.
Overall, the approval of spot Ether ETFs marks another step forward in the crypto market, albeit with procedural differences and potential political undercurrents.
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