JPMorgan is not betting big on the Securities and Exchange Commission approving a Spot Ethereum exchange-traded fund in May, the original deadline for approving a Spot Ethereum exchange-traded fund.
“In our opinion, for the SEC to approve a Spot Ethereum ETF in May, it will need to classify Ethereum as a commodity (similar to Bitcoin) rather than a security,” said Nikolaos Pani of JPMorgan. Gilzoglou told The Block. “This is by no means a given, and I don’t think there is more than a 50% chance that the SEC will classify Ethereum as a commodity before May.”
Earlier this week, the SEC approved a spot Bitcoin ETF after being rejected for more than a decade. Ethereum's price has soared nearly 20% over the past seven days, compared to Bitcoin's 2.5% rise over the same period, and traders are now betting that the Spot Ethereum ETF could be next to get the green light. ing.
However, Panigirtzoglou said the SEC “still indicates that it will continue to consider all other cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin as securities.”
JPMorgan said last year that U.S. lawmakers could put Ether in a new “other category” to avoid classifying it as a security.
Staking protocol
Last year, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler reiterated that tokens using staking protocols, such as Ethereum's ETH token, could be considered securities under U.S. law. During a nearly five-hour hearing with lawmakers last year, Gensler declined to say whether ETH is a security. And while Gensler approved the Spot Bitcoin ETF earlier this week, he said the decision “in no way signals the Commission's desire to approve listing standards for crypto-asset securities.”
Some analysts, including James Seifert of Bloomberg Intelligence, are more optimistic than JPMorgan that a spot ETH ETF will be approved.
The SEC ultimately had to approve the Spot Bitcoin ETF, in part because it had already approved the Bitcoin Futures ETF, but a federal court ruled that the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust would convert into an ETF. The court ruled that the SEC's rejection of Grayscale's attempt to do so should be reconsidered.
Several companies have recently filed for spot ETH ETFs, including BlackRock and Fidelity.
Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor in The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in: Other companies In the crypto space. Cryptocurrency exchange Bitget is an anchor LP of Foresight Ventures. The Block remains independently operated to provide objective, impactful, and timely information about the cryptocurrency industry. Current financial disclosure information is as follows:
© 2023 The Block. All rights reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
