House Members Urge Spot Ethereum ETF Approval
Five Representatives send letter to Gensler, calling for approach akin to spot bitcoin funds' approvals.
A handful of U.S. Representatives are calling for the approval of spot Ethereum ETFs as the deadline for rendering a decision nears.
A letter signed by five Congressmen said similar standards applied when spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds were approved in January should be used when evaluating the ethereum products. Signees to the letter sent Wednesday to Securities and Exchange Commission Gary Gensler include Financial Services Committee chairman French Hill (D-Ark).
“The Commission should apply the same principles set forth in the approval of the spot bitcoin ETPs as it evaluates the pending Ether ETP applications,” according to the letter, also signed by committee members Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), Tom Emmer (R-Minn), Wiley Nickel (D-NC) and Mike Flood (R-Neb). “The legal considerations pertinent to Bitcoin also apply to ether.”
A decision on the spot ethereum ETFs is expected today and is looking more likely than it had been barely a week ago as sentiment shifts. A flurry of activity suggests that the listing exchanges and applicants, including firms ranging from VanEck to Fidelity, had been in contact with regulators and updated their legal frameworks to accommodate the SEC’s concerns about fraud and transparency.
Fit21 Passed by House
The House yesterday approved so-called FIT21, which would reformulate how issuers of securities must comply with federal law and Supreme Court precedent. The White House said that it opposed the bill, while notable not threatening a veto.
The SEC today is scheduled to decide on an application by ETF giant VanEck and two days before it rules on an Ark/21 Shares investment proposal.
Ether was up slightly at about $3,821 Wednesday morning after soaring 29% over the past seven days, according to cryptocurrency market data provider CoinMarketCap. Most of those gains occurred as the likelihood of spot Ethereum ETF approvals soared.
The $88.2 million ProShares Ether Strategy ETF (EETH) was up 2.7% and has doubled in price over the past year.
