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Crypto news: Grayscale’s Chief Legal Officer, Craig Salm, has expressed his very confident thoughts regarding the approval of spot Ethereum ETFs in the USA, despite the “lack of commitment from the SEC”.
Summary
ETF on Ethereum spot news: what does Craig Salm, Chief Legal Officer of Grayscale, think
Today, Grayscale’s Chief Legal Officer, Craig Salm, published a series of tweets discussing Ethereum spot ETFs and their approval (or lack thereof) by the SEC.
2/ In the final months leading up to #Bitcoin ETF approval, @Grayscale and others received positive and constructive engagement from the SEC. We had thoughtful conversations and discussed the finer details of creation/redemption procedures, cash v. in-kind, APs, LPs, custody etc.
— Craig Salm (@CraigSalm) March 25, 2024
“Recently there has been a lot of talk about Ethereum spot ETFs. Personally, I am not discouraged by them and I believe that ETFs should be approved. But now I want to talk about how I think that the ‘lack of commitment from the SEC’ should be considered at this point:
in the last few months leading up to the approval of the Bitcoin ETF, @Grayscale and others have received positive and constructive engagement from the SEC. We have had thoughtful conversations and discussed the finer details of creation/redemption procedures, cash in kind, AP, LP, custody, etc.”
Basically, Salm informs his followers that he is confident about the approval of ETFs on Ethereum spot, since the case is as strong as the one that happened in January 2024, with the approval of ETFs on Bitcoin spot.
Not only that, between the lines, Salm also denounces a certain lack of commitment on the part of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the USA, but without feeling discouraged.
Actually, Grayscale’s Chief Legal Officer seems to state that the issues related to Ethereum spot ETFs are the same as those already overcome with the spot Bitcoin ETF. The only difference between the two is that the first one holds ETH instead of BTC.
ETF on Ethereum spot news: other motivations that encourage Grayscale to be optimistic
In addition to comparing with Bitcoin spot ETFs, Salm from Grayscale talks about other motivations that encourage considering approval of Ethereum spot ETFs.
This is about consistency with ETH futures ETFs, regulation of ETH futures as commodity futures (as opposed to securities futures), high correlation between futures and spot.
The latest tweet from Salm wants to highlight that it is precisely investors who want and deserve access to Ethereum in the form of an Exchange-Traded Fund spot, just like what happened with Bitcoin.
This last statement by Salm had already been used when a week ago, Grayscale had submitted the amended form 19b-4 for its application for an ETF on Ethereum spot.
The updated Grayscale form aims to obtain approval from the SEC to list ETHE on the NYSE Arca.
Currently, Grayscale is joining BlackRock, VanEck, ARK 21Shares, Fidelity, Invesco Galaxy, Franklin Templeton, and Hashdex as candidates for SEC approval. Since the SEC must decide on VanEck’s application by May 23, analysts predict that all applicants will know their fate by that date.
The new fund dedicated to crypto staking
Always in this month of March 2024, Grayscale would have introduced a new fund dedicated to crypto staking.
This is the Grayscale Dynamic Income Fund which initially includes APT, TIA, CBETH, ATOM, NEAR, OSMO, DOT, SEI, and SOL in its portfolio.
Basically, the new Grayscale Dynamic Income Fund (GDIF) is focused on cryptocurrencies to generate income, initially involving the 9 blockchains. The main goal will be to distribute rewards in US dollars, on a quarterly basis.
The GDIF is added to the range of Grayscale products, allowing investors to participate in multi-asset staking through a single convenient and familiar investment vehicle.