SEC seeks public opinion on proposed Ethereum spot ETF by Grayscale, Bitwise and Fidelity

Although the SEC is following the correct review process, market optimism about the prospect of an Ethereum ETF being approved is gradually fading.

SEC seeks public opinion on proposed Ethereum spot ETF by Grayscale, Bitwise and Fidelity

According to a notice posted on April 3 (US time), the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will begin asking for public opinion on proposals to establish an Ethereum spot ETF from 3 units. are Grayscale, Bitwise and Fidelity.

All three proposals will receive feedback from the American public within 21 days.

There are currently up to 10 American companies intending to do the same with the world's second largest cryptocurrency, Ethereum (ETH). Notably, Grayscale and Fidelity are two parties that want to use ETH held in the fund to participate in staking.

However, the cryptocurrency investment community's optimism about the prospect of the Ethereum spot ETF being approved by the important deadline of May 23 has decreased significantly in recent times.

Bloomberg analysts said that because there is not too much interaction between the SEC and ETF proponents, there is a high possibility that the securities commission will rule against it. Bloomberg also lowered the probability of having an ETF for ETH to only 35%.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission was also recently reported to be asking companies that have cooperated with the Ethereum Foundation to provide information, sparking rumors that it is about to investigate the organization behind the world's second largest cryptocurrency. This. The SEC under Chairman Gary Gensler has maintained that staking activities can constitute securities.

In announcing the approval of the Bitcoin ETF in January, Chairman Gary Gensler said that currently only BTC is recognized as not a security, while all the remaining cryptocurrencies, especially Proof coins, are not considered securities. -of-Stake like Ethereum, are all suspect.

However, CEO Larry Fink of BlackRock, the leading asset management group in the United States that is also proposing to establish an Ethereum ETF to the SEC, is confident that even if ETH is declared a security, there is still an opportunity to This type of asset is ETFized and listed on the US stock exchange.

Previously, Bitwise Asset Management Company submitted an application to register an Ethereum spot ETF with the Securities Commission (SEC) although the approval rate in May is predicted to have decreased to only 30%.

According to form S-1 filed with the SEC on March 28, crypto asset manager Bitwise has filed an application to issue an ETF for Ethereum (ETH) spot. The move comes shortly after the firm's CIO Matt Hougan predicted an Ethereum spot ETF may not be approved in May.

Similarly, experts, specifically senior analyst at Bloomberg Eric Balchunas, initially predicted that the approval rate in May would be 70%, then decreased to 35%. Meanwhile, GSR Markets predicts this rate is only 20%.

The diminishing speculations came after the SEC repeatedly announced delays in approving Ethereum spot ETF applications from giants like BlackRock and Fidelity. At its peak on March 20, the SEC even launched a campaign to classify whether Ethereum is a security, reflecting its harsh attitude in the censorship process of Proof-of-Stake assets.

Even in the announcement of the approval of the Bitcoin spot ETF, the SEC still maintained its stance of not supporting crypto, and only Bitcoin is considered an asset, while other cryptocurrencies have not yet escaped being considered securities. .

If referred to The Howey Test - the basis for the SEC to classify a project token as a security or not - the test's argument is not convincing enough to prove "Ethereum is a security".

ETH is currently hovering around 3550 USD, down about 500 in price since the Dencun upgrade.