SEC will classify Ether as security, deny spot Ether ETFs — Michael Saylor

As an experienced financial analyst, I have closely followed the regulatory landscape of digital assets, particularly Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH). Michael Saylor’s recent remarks at MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin For Corporations conference on the potential denial of listing and trading of spot Ether ETFs by the SEC piqued my interest.


Michael Saylor, the chairman of MicroStrategy, expressed his belief that the SEC may reject the proposal for listing and trading of Ether (ETH) spot exchange-traded funds in the United States.

As a financial analyst speaking at MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin For Corporations conference on May 1, I expressed my belief that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) would classify Ethereum (ETH) as a crypto asset security instead of a commodity under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Furthermore, based on my analysis, the SEC might also consider tokens such as Binance Coin (BNB), Solana (SOL), Ripple (XRP), and Cardano (ADA) as unregistered crypto asset securities.

Saylor stated that no tokens among these will ever be considered for wrapping in a spot Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) by Wall Street or mainstream institutional investors; they will not be recognized as crypto assets by them.

SEC will classify Ether as security, deny spot Ether ETFs — Michael Saylor

Experts have raised concerns about the SEC’s approval of listing and trading of spot Ethereum ETFs on American exchanges, with VanEck and ARK Invest having their first major deadlines for ETF applications on May 23rd and May 24th respectively.

As a researcher uncovering information related to Consensys’ lawsuit against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), I discovered that allegations in the filing suggested the SEC had initiated investigations into Ether as a security as far back as March 2023. During an April 2023 hearing, however, SEC Chair Gary Gensler declined to directly answer questions regarding Ether’s classification as a security, despite earlier statements that seemed to contradict this stance.

I serve as a prominent advocate for Bitcoin and have played a pivotal role in MicroStrategy’s decision to adopt the cryptocurrency as part of our reserve assets. As of April 30, we hold approximately 214,400 Bitcoins, equivalent to over $13 billion in value at the time of publishing this analysis.

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2024-05-03 20:52