Summary
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has postponed its decision on Grayscale Investments’ application to convert its Ethereum trust product into an exchange-traded fund (ETF). This comes after the SEC also postponed a decision on BlackRock’s application for a similar physical Ethereum ETF. The SEC has previously opposed physical crypto ETFs but allowed physical Bitcoin ETFs to operate in the U.S. for the first time in January. The filing for a physical Ethereum ETF raises questions about its similarity to a spot Bitcoin ETF and Ethereum’s vulnerability to fraud and manipulation. Other questions focus on market manipulation and the size of the futures market.
Key Points
1. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has postponed its decision on Grayscale Investments’ application to convert its Ethereum trust product (ETHE) into an exchange-traded fund (ETF).
2. The SEC has previously opposed physical crypto ETFs and allowed only physical Bitcoin ETFs to operate in the United States for the first time in January.
3. The filing raises questions about whether a spot Ethereum ETF is similar to a spot Bitcoin ETF, as well as specific concerns about Ethereum’s vulnerability to fraud and manipulation.