Coinbase Legal Chief Argues SEC Has 'No Good Reason' To Deny Spot Ethereum ETFs

Amid ongoing speculation surrounding the prospect of spot Ethereum ETH/USD exchange-traded fund approvals in the United States, Coinbase COIN Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal said the Securities and Exchange Commission has "no good reason" to deny the ETF applications. "Sigh... again with the ETH misinformation as we await a decision on ETH ETPs" Grewal wrote on X. "Millions of Americans hold ETH; it has been vital to crypto since its 2015 launch; and ETH is a commodity, not a security." Grewal went on to argue that the SEC has taken this position on its status for years, with senior SEC officials like former Director of Corporation Finance Bill Hinman's speech in 2018 suggesting ether was not a security. In the same year, before becoming SEC Chair, Gary Gensler also testified to Congress that ether is not a security, Grewal added. Recent comparisons between ether and bitcoin by the SEC's own trial lawyers in the case against Ripple Labs, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and federal courts' confirmation of ether as a commodity and the ether futures contracts which started trading on CFTC-regulated futures exchanges in 2021, were additional arguments against the classification of ether as a security, Grewal said. "The SEC has no good reason to deny the ETH ETP applications. And we hope they won't try to invent one by questioning the long established regulatory status of ETH, which the SEC has repeatedly endorsed. That's not how the law works. And Americans deserve better" Grewal said.

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