Spot Ether ETFs Are Far From a Done Deal
Bakkt’s D’Annunzio discusses spot bitcoin and ether ETFs.
Now that the SEC has approved spot bitcoin ETFs, are spot ether ETFs imminent? Not so fast, says Marc D’Annunzio, general counsel at Bakkt, a publicly traded company focused on crypto trading and custody.
In this episode of Talk ETFs, etf.com senior analyst Sumit Roy sits down with D’Annunzio to learn more. They also discuss why custody is so important when it comes to spot bitcoin ETFs, as well as the origins of Bakkt, a firm that is majority-owned by the New York Stock Exchange’s parent company.
According to D’Annunzio, spot ether ETFs are a different animal than spot bitcoin ETFs given ether’s uncertain regulatory status.
“The current administration’s SEC has taken a really broad view of which crypto tokens ought to be securities. Until that fundamental issue is resolved, I think that will slow the approval of a spot ETF for Ethereum and other tokens that the commission [believes] could potentially be securities,” D’Annunzio explained.
D’Annunzio has served as general counsel and secretary of Bakkt since May 2019, and is responsible for Bakkt’s legal, regulatory, compliance and governance matters. He joined Bakkt from Alston & Bird LLP, an international law firm, where he practiced in its Payments group. D’Annunzio has more than 25 years of experience in the payments and loyalty industries, focusing on M&A transactions, strategic alliances, complex commercial relationships (including co-branded and private label card programs and processing relationships for leading retailers), new product launches and compliance. He holds a Juris Doctor and a Bachelor of Arts in economics and history, each from the University of Michigan.