诉讼会是现货以太坊ETF获批的必经之路吗？

Original author: Mary Liu, BitpushNews

Not surprisingly, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) did not give the green light to the spot Ethereum ETF soon, and the application proposals of BlackRock and Grayscale have been postponed.

The Commission believes it is appropriate to specify a longer period for taking action on the proposed rule changes to allow sufficient time to consider the proposed rule changes and the issues raised therein, the SECs announcement said.

The agency is particularly concerned about whether Ethereum’s proof-of-stake mechanism and “centralization of control or influence by a few individuals or entities” pose special risks, making the fund vulnerable to fraud and manipulation.

Last week it used nearly the same rhetoric and made a delayed decision on the Fidelity Ethereum ETF.

This was a decision predicted by most market analysts. Analysts at JPMorgan Chase (JPM) said in a recent report that there is no more than a 50% chance that the SEC will approve an ETH-based ETF before May. James Seyffart, a veteran ETF expert at Bloomberg, said delays in Ethereum ETF spot proposals are likely to “continue to occur occasionally” in the coming months.

The Bitcoin ETF came to market after more than a decade of fighting with the SEC, which for years refused to relent due to concerns about potential market manipulation. So what exactly does it take to get an Ethereum ETF listed?

Will litigation be the only way to get a spot Ethereum ETF approved?

BlackRock, the worlds leading ETF issuer and largest asset manager, was the first to enact exchange monitoring protocols to quell manipulation concerns, and 11 ETF issuers also made several major concessions to regulators , such as settling in cash instead of Bitcoin, seeking its approval.

But in the end, Grayscales court victory forced SEC Chairman Gary Gensler to approve financial products based on Bitcoin. An appeals judge criticized the agencys earlier logic in approving futures-based ETFs but not spot-based ETFs as incorrect and asked it to re-evaluate its listing standards.

Well, it might be a good sign that the Ethereum futures ETF is already online. However, Gensler said in its public statement that the decision to approve a Bitcoin ETF in no way signals the Commissions willingness to approve listing standards for crypto-asset securities.

Crypto mom and SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce recently stated in an interview with Coinage that the SEC should not embark on the path of litigation because of the Ethereum ETF, and that the agency will “apply precedent” when making decisions.

Hester Peirce often presents opposing views to her committee colleagues and has been a public voice for the crypto industry, criticizing the SEC’s enforcement actions against companies and projects in the industry.

She noted that the specific details and context of each ETF application can vary widely, suggesting a different approach is needed for each case.

She commented: There is a lot that needs to be done to get an exchange-traded product ready for market, including ensuring that disclosures are consistent with how the product actually works. For the courts to tell us that the approach taken is wrong... I think that The lessons will definitely be remembered.”

But Peirce pointed out: Congress does not give us the authority to tell investors whether a particular investment is suitable for them.

Bitcoin is in a better position in this regard because it is the only crypto asset uniformly classified as a commodity by regulators. Unlike what early regulators called Ethereum fully decentralized, Gensler was critical of ETH, especially after the Ethereum network moved to a staking mechanism.

JPMorgan analyst Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou believes: “The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is filing lawsuits against cryptocurrency exchanges that provide staking services for proof-of-stake blockchains, including Ethereum, making the approval of Ethereum spot ETFs more challenging. , at least until these lawsuits are resolved.

Panigirtzoglou also pointed out that the SEC did not directly mention ETH in its lawsuit against cryptocurrency exchanges Kraken, Coinbase or Binance for alleged violations of securities laws, suggesting that it may actually classify the cryptocurrency as a commodity. Additionally, if the SEC pursues litigation over the ETH ETF, it may have to contend with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), a rival that also claims jurisdiction over ETH.

All of this suggests that the launch of a spot Ethereum ETF is inevitable, but there are still many obstacles ahead.

Anticipation builds as deadline approaches

Application deadlines are May 23 for VanEck, May 24 for ARK 21 Shares, May 30 for Hashdex, June 18 for Grayscale, and decisions are due for Invesco The date is July 5th. Meanwhile, decisions on Fidelity and BlackRocks applications are expected on August 3 and August 7.

While the SECs delaying action temporarily deprives U.S. consumers of safe, tax-advantaged exposure to the second-largest cryptocurrency, the end result could be positive for ETH.