{"id":1217,"date":"2024-05-23T21:09:09","date_gmt":"2024-05-23T21:09:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ci02de2182400024cc"},"modified":"2024-05-23T21:09:09","modified_gmt":"2024-05-23T21:09:09","slug":"sec-approves-spot-ethereum-etfs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/markets\/sec-approves-spot-ethereum-etfs","title":{"rendered":"SEC Approves Spot Ethereum ETFs"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"bsf_rt_marker\"><\/div><p>The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has just <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sec.gov\/files\/tm\/lk87adfs99.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">approved<\/a> the first batch of spot Ethereum (ETH) ETFs. These ETFs could have huge implications across financial markets, given the popularity of the asset and acknowledging how spot Bitcoin ETFs were&nbsp;the fastest growing ETFs in the history of ETFs, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/BitcoinMagazine\/status\/1773067179677630782\">according<\/a> to BlackRock CEO Larry Fink.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">JUST IN: \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 SEC approves spot Ethereum ETFs. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/t7KLtcaMNg\">pic.twitter.com\/t7KLtcaMNg<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BitcoinMagazine\/status\/1793750833592455475?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">May 23, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The newly approved spot Ethereum ETFs will allow investors to gain direct exposure to Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, without having to purchase and store the digital asset themselves.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;TO BE CLEAR: This does not mean they will begin trading tomorrow. This is just 19b-4 approval. Also needs to be an approval on the S-1 documents which is going to take time,&#8221; Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/JSeyff\/status\/1793752733763445043\">commented<\/a> on the news. &#8220;We\u2019re expecting it to take a couple weeks but could take longer. Should know more within a week or so!&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The rapid change in approval odds for these ETFs shocked everyone this past Monday, when Bloomberg analysts Eric Balchunas and James Seyffart <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/EricBalchunas\/status\/1792636523050906102\">raised<\/a> their approval odds from 25% to 75%. &#8220;Hearing chatter this afternoon that SEC could be doing a 180 on this (increasingly political issue), so now everyone scrambling (like us everyone else assumed they&#8217;d be denied),&#8221; Balchunas explained.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>It has been a long&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/wallstreetpro\/status\/1535944135353503744\">debate<\/a> on whether Ethereum should be deemed as a security or a commodity. Critics of Ethereum claim it passes the Howey test, and therefore should be classified as a security.&nbsp;The Howey test consists of four criteria: an investment of money, expectation of profits, common enterprise, and reliance on the efforts of others. Here is a video below from 2014 of current SEC Chair Gary Gensler explaining why he believed at the time that ETH passes the Howey test.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Friendly reminder that the current Chair of the SEC thinks Ethereum passes the Howey Test. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/qFKeBFdKCH\">pic.twitter.com\/qFKeBFdKCH<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Modern Stacker (@ModernStacker) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ModernStacker\/status\/1616285734389825536?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">January 20, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>And now due to recent regulatory developments, along side this ETF approval, regulators appear to now be pushing towards regulating ETH as a commodity.<\/p>\n<p>Yesterday, a bill&nbsp;to develop a regulatory framework for digital assets (H.R. 4763 &#8211; Financial Innovation and Technology Act 21 (FIT 21))&nbsp;passed the House. The bill, unlike another Bitcoin and crypto related <a href=\"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/business\/president-joe-biden-will-veto-legislation-allowing-financial-firms-to-custody-bitcoin-white-house\">bill<\/a> voted on in the House and Senate earlier this month, <a href=\"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/markets\/white-house-eager-to-work-with-congress-on-crypto-framework-bill\">received positive feedback<\/a> from the White House, initially saying they did not like the legislation in it&#8217;s current state but wanted to work with Congress to find a resolution, and would not veto it shall it get to President Biden&#8217;s desk to sign into law.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We had two thirds of the House of Representatives vote in favor of clarity for crypto,&#8221; Patrick McHenry,&nbsp;Chairman of the&nbsp;U.S. House Committee on Financial Services Republicans, told CNBC today. &#8220;It creates a legal framework, giving the SEC a proper role, and the CFTC a proper role, rather than the set of conflicting regulatory actions that those two agencies have taken over the last ten years&#8230;It settles what is a digital asset, gives it a legal framework for trading and the purchase of those assets.&#8221;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/WATCH?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#WATCH<\/a>: Chairman <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/PatrickMcHenry?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@PatrickMcHenry<\/a> joins <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SquawkCNBC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@SquawkCNBC<\/a> to discuss yesterday&#39;s historic, bipartisan vote on the landmark <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/FIT21?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">#FIT21<\/a>. He covers:<\/p>\n<p>\u203c\ufe0f Major provisions<br \/>\ud83d\udd0e Clarifying <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CFTC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@CFTC<\/a> vs <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SECGov?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">@SECGov<\/a> jurisdiction<br \/>\ud83d\ude82 Next steps on the road to enactment<\/p>\n<p>\ud83d\udcfa Don&#39;t miss this conversation \ud83d\udc47 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/F49JjPf5tH\">pic.twitter.com\/F49JjPf5tH<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Financial Services GOP (@FinancialCmte) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FinancialCmte\/status\/1793605748737425650?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">May 23, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>If FIT 21 passes the Senate and gets signed into law by President Biden, then ETH could be classified as a commodity under these new guidelines, but it remains to be seen the official outcome of that decision.<\/p>\n<p>Congress is also currently &#8220;building a pro-crypto army&#8221;, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SenLummis\/status\/1793654641974288558\">according<\/a> to US Senator Cynthia Lummis, who <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SenLummis\/status\/1793404700714278978\">shared<\/a> her support for the House passing FIT 21 yesterday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The decision follows the SEC&#8217;s approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs in January.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2511,"featured_media":1218,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[76,621,93,183,135],"class_list":["post-1217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-markets","tag-bitcoin","tag-ethereum","tag-news","tag-sec","tag-spot-bitcoin-etf"],"author_data":{"id":2511,"name":"Nik","nicename":"nik","avatar_url":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/NIK_.jpg"},"featured_image_url":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/default_new_york_stock_exchange_etf_trading_0-3.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2511"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1217"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1217\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}