The approval of Ethereum (ETH) exchange-traded funds is an “implicit admission” by the SEC that Ethereum is not a security, according to industry analysts.
It is even suggested that this could extend to other codes as well.
“These are commodity-based credit stocks, so the SEC, by approving them, is explicitly saying they are not going to go after Ethereum as a security,” noted Bloomberg analyst James Seyfart ETF, in a discussion with Ryan Shawn Adams about Bankless. . Podcast.
Digital assets attorney Justin Browder believes that if Ethereum ETFs receive S-1 approval – the final piece needed to begin trading – “the debate will end: Ethereum is not a security.”
Adam Cochran, a partner at venture capital firm Cinneamhain Ventures, went further, saying this line of thinking could be extended to other project tokens.
“ETH is a commodity, even with its current characteristics. This means we can extrapolate *a lot* from other projects on important security items. Today, many things may have become obvious, even if they don’t know it yet.
However, Seyphart and others believe the SEC could continue to go after players involved in ether betting:
“(I think they will) try to thread this needle and say ETH itself, they won’t call it a security but bet that ETH could be a security (…) and I don’t think not that they will give that away any time soon.”
Digital asset lawyer Joe Carlasari agrees with Seyfart’s view.
“The SEC can track individual players and issues as a service, even with the ETF launch. I think other measures are less likely,” Karlasar told Cointelegraph.
In April, Ethereum infrastructure company Consensys received a Wells Notice from the SEC, which focused primarily on Metamask’s trading and staking services.
Financial attorney Scott Johnson also noted that the SEC did not confirm Ethereum’s non-secure status in its consent order, saying it “completely avoided” this issue.
However, the SEC and some of its commissioners are expected to make an official statement in due course.
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The SEC officially approved 19b-4 applications from VanEck, BlackRock, Fidelity, Grayscale, Franklin Templeton, ARK 21Shares, Invesco Galaxy and Bitwise to issue Ethereum spot ETFs on May 23. Many ETF issuers have removed the subprime regime in their final amendments.
Hashdex was the only ETF issuer that did not receive regulatory approval that day.
However, the eight approved ETF issuers will have to wait for the SEC to approve their S-1 registration statements before launching.
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