The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) may not need a court ruling to greenlight spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs), according to one of its commissioners. Hester Pierce, also known as “Crypto Mom” for her pro-crypto stance, said in a recent interview that the regulator would apply the same standards to crypto ETFs as it does to traditional ones.
Pierce spoke to Coinage Media on X (formerly Twitter) and revealed that the SEC would not repeat the same mistake it made with spot Bitcoin ETFs, which were approved only after a lawsuit from Grayscale challenged the SEC’s approach as “arbitrary and capricious”.
“We shouldn’t need a court to tell us that our approach is arbitrary and capricious in order for us to get it right. So I certainly hope that wouldn’t be the case,” Pierce said. “That’s not how we’re going to do our approvals … I think that kind of a lesson will certainly stick with us.”
She added that the SEC should treat spot crypto ETFs like any other fund and give them a fair chance. “We need to be applying ‘regular way’ consideration to these products, the same kind of consideration we apply to similar products,” she stated.
Ethereum ETFs On The Horizon
The demand for spot Ethereum ETFs has increased since the launch of several spot Bitcoin ETFs in the US on Jan 11. Many in the crypto industry believe that Ethereum has the same regulatory clarity as Bitcoin and deserves a similar treatment from the SEC.
However, some fear that the SEC may still pose hurdles for spot Ethereum ETFs, given its history of delaying and rejecting such applications. Pierce’s comments, however, suggest that the SEC may be more open-minded and willing to approve the funds without resorting to a legal battle.
“There’s a lot of work that goes into getting an exchange-traded product ready for market, including making sure that the disclosures are lining up with how the product actually works,” Peirce said. Among the applicants for spot Ether ETFs are BlackRock, VanEck, ARK 21Shares, Fidelity and Invesco Galaxy, Grayscale, and Hashdex.
The market is also optimistic about the prospects of spot Ethereum ETFs, as evidenced by a recent post from Fox journalist Eleanor Terret on X. Terret reported that a BTC spot issuer with an ETH spot ETF application was confident about getting an approval from the SEC. The issuer said that the successful launch of the Bitcoin funds would pave the way for the SEC to approve ETH spot ETFs as well.
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The author’s views are for reference only and shall not constitute any investment advice. Please ensure you fully understand and assess the products and associated risks before purchasing.
