Hester Peirce Says SEC Will Not Make Same Mistakes

In anticipation of the potential approval of a spot Ethereum ETF, Hester Peirce, a Commissioner with the US SEC, reiterated that the regulator has learned from its past mistakes, signaling the products’ emergence may be smoother.

Earlier this month, the SEC approved 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs to trade in the US. Behind this celebrated milestone was more than ten years of pursuit of the investment product, with the regulator notably rejecting several applications from many asset managers.

Riding on this history, many in the industry are now speculating on whether Ethereum spot ETF might suffer the same fate as Bitcoin.

Per Hester Peirce’s position, the delays recorded in the approval process for crypto ETFs are long gone, and the commission will approach Ethereum ETFs with a different strategy.

SEC Has Learned from Its Mistake

One of the major turning points for the market regulator in granting approvals for the spot Bitcoin ETF product was the defeat in the Court case against Grayscale Investments.

The asset manager sued the regulator when it initially denied its request to convert its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) product into a full-fledged spot ETF.

The court ruled in favor of Grayscale and ordered the commission to review the applications. When asked by Coinage media’s Zac Guzman whether a court case might be required before the commission approves a spot Ethereum ETF, Hester Peirce responded:

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“That’s not how we’re going to do our approvals … We shouldn’t need a court to tell us that our approach is ‘arbitrary and capricious’ in order for us to get it right.”

With Bitcoin ETF approval setting a precedent, it might only be a matter of time before Ethereum and even XRP ETF start trading in US markets.

Dissenting Views on Potential Ethereum ETF

Despite the filings for several spot Ethereum ETF products, with the US SEC in the queue for decision, there is a diverse opinion on whether the product will be approved or not. 

Fox Business Journalist Eleanor Terrett highlighted these discrepancies, clearly pointing out how a spot Bitcoin ETF issuer expressed confidence that spot Ethereum ETF will see the light of day.

She also noted that sources at the SEC confirmed that based on the current disposition of the regulator, Ethereum ETFs are a “hard no” based on internal resistance to the idea for now.

However, with the presence of BlackRock in the race once again and the firm’s track record of securing approvals, Ethereum ETFs might also be close to being approved.