For SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce, the commission learned from its mistakes and will not repeat them with Ethereum ETF applications.
SEC representatives will not repeat the same mistakes now with the approval of an Ethereum ETF, Commissioner Hester Peirce said. In that sense, she suggested that now the procedures will be much more fluid for companies that apply to launch funds in cryptocurrencies. In the official’s opinion, the agency has already learned from its mistakes.
In a recent interview with Coinage, Peirce referred to the Commission’s past episodes with applications from various financial firms. For years, US regulators have refused to approve some of these exchange products. The scenario changed in 2023, though, when a court ruling left those led by Gary Gensler no more options.
After regretting that it had reached that extreme, the official commented that it now belonged to the past. “This is not how we are going to do our approvals,” she stressed, referring to the lawsuit that forced them to give in to Grayscale. “We shouldn’t need a court to tell us that our approach is arbitrary and capricious in order to get it right,” she highlighted.
With these statements, Peirce hinted that there will be no major problems for companies requesting to launch ETFs. The latter includes both Bitcoin and Ethereum.
SEC Postpones Decision on BlackRock Ethereum ETF to March
The SEC made the delay one day before the January 25 deadline. It is the first of several delays the SEC can exercise over a 240-day period. This first deadline comes almost 45 days after Nasdaq filed for an iShares Ethereum Trust (on behalf of BlackRock) on December 11.
VanEck and Ark 21Shares’ ether ETF applications have a final deadline of May 23 and 24, respectively, while the other three applicants, Grayscale Investments, Invesco Galaxy and Fidelity Investments, have final deadlines of June 18, on July 5 and August 3.
One of the SEC Commissioners, Hester “Crypto Mom” Peirce, recently assured applicants that a legal battle will not be necessary to convince the SEC to approve Ether ETFs.
However, other industry experts are less optimistic. Morgan Creek Capital CEO Mark Yusko, for instance, predicts a less than 50% chance of an ether ETF being approved, arguing that the SEC remains hostile toward the cryptocurrency industry.
Is an Ethereum ETF Possible in a Short Time?
According to Peirce, the chances of Ethereum ETFs being approved on the stock exchange are high. However, a look at the bigger picture suggests it’s probably not all that smooth. Consequently, Gensler’s own statements following the approval of Bitcoin ETFs on January 10 should not be overlooked.
In them he flatly said that the approval was not a green light for him to think about placing unregistered commodity funds. It should be noted that the SEC is convinced that cryptocurrencies are securities that are traded illegally.
There are numerous appreciations and speculations regarding the approval of ETH exchange-traded funds. However, the possibilities are clearer about this currency than about others that also appear as possible applicants, such as XRP. Either way, new lawsuits against the SEC should not be ruled out should it refuse to approve an Ethereum ETF.
Grayscale’s victory over the agency centered on spot and futures Bitcoin ETFs being basically the same. If Grayscale applies for an ETH fund, the regulatory agency would face a redundant scenario.
Against this backdrop, it can be said that the chances of seeing an Ethereum spot exchange product this year are enormous.
By Audy Castaneda
