Spot Eater ETFs are approved, but Gary Gensler didn’t choose them – here’s why.
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Spot Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) were approved on May 23. However, the approval process is slightly different from the approval of Spot Bitcoin ETFs in January.
Unlike spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs, which are approved by a five-member committee including SEC Chief Gary Gensler, spot Ether (ETH) ETFs are approved by the SEC's Division of Commerce and Markets.
The SEC approved the 19b-4 filings from BlackRock, Fidelity, Grayscale, Bitwise, VanEck, Ark, Invesco Galaxy and Franklin Templeton but declined to comment beyond the official ruling. The official record reads:
“Pursuant to the authority delegated to the Commission, by the Department of Trade and Markets.”
While many in the crypto community are curious about the difference in the approval process for the two crypto ETFs, Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seifert says it's normal.
He said things are typically done the same way for multiple approvals, and if the SEC “asked for a public vote on every decision or every document — it would be crazy.” It would be nice to see where the political line is drawn.
Related: SEC's ETF Ruling Means ETH and ‘Many' Other Tokens Are Not Securities
However, not everyone seems to believe in Seifert's analysis. An X-user commissioner said he could challenge the decision within the next 10 days, and the delegated authority's main reason for hiding the votes was that they could be seen as political.
Another X user attributed the SEC's decision to a number of factors, including political pressure, the upcoming election, and the implementation of environmental, social and governance laws.
Another major difference between the two crypto ETFs' approval processes is that all 11 BTC ETFs began trading the day after approval, as they received Form S-1 clearance.
Since ETF filers have yet to receive an S-1 SEC filing, spot ETFs could be weeks or months away from launching on exchanges.
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