Michael Saylor, the executive chair of MicroStrategy, has made a prediction that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will reject the listing and trading of spot Ether (ETH) exchange-traded funds (ETFs). During MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin For Corporations conference on May 1, Saylor stated that the SEC would classify ETH as a crypto asset security within its regulatory jurisdiction, rather than as a commodity under the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Saylor further speculated that the SEC might also consider other tokens, such as BNB, SOL, XRP, and ADA, as unregistered “crypto asset securities.” He asserted that these tokens would not be accepted by Wall Street or mainstream institutional investors as crypto assets.
Saylor’s remarks come at a time when there is uncertainty about whether the SEC will approve the listing and trading of spot Ether ETFs on U.S. exchanges. The first crucial deadlines for ETF applications from VanEck and ARK Invest are set for May 23 and May 24, respectively.
According to unredacted portions of a lawsuit filed by ConsenSys, it was alleged that the SEC initiated an investigation into Ether as a security as early as March 2023. In an April 2023 hearing, SEC Chair Gary Gensler avoided directly addressing whether Ether was a security, despite previous statements suggesting otherwise.
Saylor is a vocal advocate for BTC and has played a significant role in MicroStrategy’s acquisition of the cryptocurrency as a reserve asset. As of April 30, the company held 214,400 BTC, valued at over $13 billion.