SEC Expected To Deny Spot Ether ETFs In May, Consensys Sues Over 'Security' StatusAccording to four people who participated, recent meetings between issuers and the SEC have been one-sided and agency staff have not discussed substantive details about the proposed products.
That is in contrast to the intensive and detailed discussions between issuers and the agency in the weeks before its landmark approval of spot bitcoin ETFs in January, said the people who declined to be identified because the talks are private.
As CoinTelegraph reports, before the historic approval, the SEC rejected spot BTC ETF filings for over a decade.
It only changed its stance after Grayscale Investments won a court victory against the securities regulator in August 2023.
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Balchunas also mentioned that SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s stance on Ether could also impact the decision process as he has refused to give clarity on whether Ether was a security.
We have detailed the furore over the classification of Ether as a security (or not) a number of times, but today saw the situation escalated as Consensys, a major backer of the Ethereum blockchain, filed a lawsuit against the agency in Texas federal court, asking the court, among other things, to resolve one of the biggest legal uncertainties hanging over the crypto industry by stating that Ethereum’s digital token, Ether, is not a security.
Fortune's Jeff John Roberts reports that in its 34-page legal filing, Consensys uses dramatic language to argue that the SEC’s efforts to exert jurisdiction over Ethereum is both illegal and a threat to blockchain technology more broadly.
“The SEC’s unlawful seizure of authority over ETH would spell disaster for the Ethereum network, and for Consensys. Every holder of ETH, including Consensys, would fear violating the securities laws if he or she were to transfer ETH on the network,” the complaint states.
“This would bring use of the Ethereum blockchain in the United States to a halt, crippling one of the internet’s greatest innovations.”
zerohedge.com