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BlackRock contends SEC lacks justification for distinguishing between crypto futures and spot ETFs

BlackRock contends SEC lacks justification for distinguishing between crypto futures and spot ETFs

BlackRock has criticized the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for treating spot-crypto and crypto-futures exchange-traded fund (ETF) applications differently. The asset management firm argued that the SEC’s preference for the 1940 Act, which oversees futures ETFs, lacks relevance to both crypto-spot and crypto-futures ETFs. BlackRock’s plan for a spot-Ether (ETH) ETF called the “iShares Ethereum Trust” was recently confirmed. The SEC has approved several crypto futures ETFs but has yet to greenlight a single spot-crypto ETF application. The SEC claims that crypto futures ETFs have superior regulation and consumer protections under the 1940 Act compared to the 1933 Act that covers spot-crypto ETFs. However, BlackRock argues that this distinction is without a difference in the context of ETH-based ETP proposals. The firm believes that the SEC has no justifiable reason to reject its spot ETH ETF application. It is widely anticipated that the first SEC approval of a spot crypto ETF, possibly a Bitcoin-related one, is imminent. Bloomberg ETF analysts predict a 90% chance of approval before January 10 next year.

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