Comments on three proposals for ether spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are now being accepted by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.A three-week comment period will apply to the ETF initiatives associated with Bitwise, Fidelity, and Grayscale Investments, per notices the agency released on Tuesday “to solicit comments on the proposed rule change from interested persons.”
Industry analysts have grown less hopeful that the regulator will follow suit with the products tracking Ethereum’s (ETH) value, despite growing anticipation following the agency’s approval of bitcoin spot ETFs in January.After a significant setback in a legal battle with Grayscale, the commission was compelled to rescind its prior opposition to the bitcoin applications, and SEC representatives contended that its subsequent approval of bitcoin ETFs does not extend to other tokens.
SEC Chair Gary Gensler had said in January that the bitcoin approval shouldn’t “signal anything about the commission’s views as to the status of other crypto assets under the federal securities laws.”
Investments in that token surged rapidly with the introduction of a stable of (BTC) ETFs. If the agency ever comes to comparable approvals, ETH might see a similar result. But according to reports, the SEC is looking at whether ETH should be categorized as a security, which would place it under a different legal framework than bitcoin.
The SEC has until May 23 to make final determinations regarding a few of the ETF applications.