The cryptocurrency market is currently one of the major markets where investments have yielded substantial profits for investors. Over time, the crypto market has faced various regulatory concerns, resulting in several restrictions and investigations.
Despite these challenges, the crypto market has gradually gained acceptance among people and secured multiple approvals from regulatory authorities. A significant recent development in this regard is the SEC's approval of the spot Ether ETF which is being seen as a major victory for the crypto market. This is not the first instance of the SEC approving a cryptocurrency-related exchange-traded fund.
Earlier in January, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved the spot Bitcoin ETF. At that time, the SEC approved 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs including applications from major firms like BlackRock, Ark Investments/21Shares, Fidelity, Invesco, and VanEck.
Currently, the SEC has also approved spot Ether ETF applications from eight firms: VanEck, BlackRock, Fidelity, Grayscale, Franklin Templeton, ARK 21Shares, Invesco Galaxy, and Bitwise. The approval of the spot Ether ETF by the US regulatory authority is considered a milestone. People associated with the crypto market view this as a significant win.
According to Coin Gabbar, the approval of the spot Bitcoin ETF raised hopes that regulators are gradually softening their stance towards cryptocurrencies. There was a time when the SEC was investigating every US-based cryptocurrency exchange, causing so much trouble for the exchanges that they even considered leaving the US.
Some cryptocurrency firms took the SEC to court, and Ripple Lab achieved a partial victory against the SEC. This led to the belief that the SEC would now avoid further embarrassment and the approval of the spot Ether ETF after the spot Bitcoin ETF is a clear example that US regulators have somewhat softened their stance on cryptocurrencies. However, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler still hasn't clarified whether he considers Ethereum a security. Nonetheless, the approval of the spot Ethereum ETF is a significant step towards the regulation of the cryptocurrency market.
Following the SEC's approval of the spot Ether ETF, there is growing anticipation that Solana and XRP might be the next cryptocurrencies to receive SEC approval for their spot ETFs. If this happens, it will be interesting to see the SEC's response to the spot XRP ETF, given the ongoing court case between the two.
However, considering the approvals of the BTC and ETH spot ETFs, it's plausible that Solana and XRP ETFs will also get approved. But, given the delay in the SEC's approval of the Ethereum ETF, it seems likely that the SEC may also delay the approval of any other cryptocurrency ETFs. Therefore, it can be expected that the next cryptocurrency ETF approvals might not happen until 2025.
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