Ethereum ETF Approval Decided by Division of Markets, Not SEC 5-Member Vote, What Does It Mean?
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) today approved an Ethereum spot-based exchange traded fund (ETF). The SEC approved 19b-4 filings from VanEck, BlackRock, Fidelity, Grayscale, Franklin Templeton, ARK 21Shares, Invesco Galaxy, and Bitwise, among others.
On March 23, the SEC approved eight Form 19b-4 applications for ETH spot ETFs submitted by BlackRock, Fidelity, VanEck, and others. SEC Commissioner Gary Gensler, who has been a vocal opponent of ETH ETFs, was not named in the decision. According to The Block, the decision came from the SEC's Division of Trading and Markets, which is delegated authority by the five commissioners (Gergensler, Ueda, Crenshaw, Pierce, and Lizarraga) who oversee the SEC's major agenda.
These findings by the SEC staff and division are subject to appeal by SEC commissioners and committees. “They can appeal, but it's very unlikely that the outcome will be overturned, and if a majority of the original five dissented, we wouldn't be here today,” said James Seifart, a Bloomberg analyst.
The original decision to approve the Bitcoin spot ETF on Jan. 10 was made by a panel vote of five SEC commissioners. At the time, Commissioners Mark Ueda and Hester Pierce voted in favor, while Commissioners Caroline Crenshaw and Jamie Lizara dissented. Commissioner Gary Gensler voted in favor, making it a 3-2 decision.
Meanwhile, Ethereum has been trading sideways since the news of the SEC approval broke. The filings allow for rule changes to list and trade Ethereum spot ETFs on each exchange. Some analysts estimate that Ethereum ETFs could see $500 million in inflows in the first week of trading. This decision is significant because it comes as the SEC is investigating whether to classify Ethereum as a security.
