The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved the 19b-4 filings for eight Ethereum spot ETF applications, including BlackRock. It is worth noting that this approval was made by the SEC Division of Trading and Markets, whereas the Bitcoin spot ETF was approved by a vote of five SEC commissioners.
Approval by the SEC Division of Trading and Markets
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The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) this morning approved the 19b-4 filings for eight Ethereum spot ETF applications from BlackRock, Fidelity, Grayscale, and others. Although the issuers still need to wait for their S-1 registration statements to be approved before officially starting trading, it appears to be only a matter of time.
With the official approval of the 19b-4 filings by the SEC, the review process has also attracted attention. According to The Block’s report, the SEC clarified the responsible division for making the decision in the last line of the order approving these Ethereum spot ETF 19b-4 filings:
This means that it was the SEC Division of Trading and Markets, not SEC Chairman Gary Gensler or the other four commissioners, who gave the green light to the Ethereum spot ETF.
In comparison, when the SEC approved the Bitcoin spot ETF earlier this year, it was voted on by a committee composed of five commissioners. SEC Chairman Gary Gensler and Republican commissioners Hester Peirce and Mark Uyeda voted in favor, while Democratic commissioners Jaime Lizárraga and Carolina Crenshaw voted against.
However, the SEC stated earlier that it would not comment on anything beyond the approval of the 19b-4 filings.
In response, Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart stated that it is normal for decisions to be made through authorization and that the Division of Trading and Markets would not be allowed to issue approval unless a majority of the commissioners agree. Seyffart suspects that there may be political reasons behind this. This is because, according to a report from a knowledgeable source, the SEC’s stance has been changing rapidly. Currently, the SEC’s Division of Trading and Markets is responsible for reviewing the 19b-4 filings, while the Division of Finance is responsible for reviewing the S-1 filings.
Related reports:
Bloomberg analyst: SEC to approve Ethereum spot ETF “19b-4 filings” at 4 a.m. on Friday
Standard Chartered: SEC to approve Ethereum spot ETF this week, BTC will reach a historic high over the weekend
SEC rejects Ethereum spot ETF pledging? Grayscale, Fidelity, Ark… cancel ETH pledging plans one after another