Grayscale CLO believes spot ether ETFs 'should be approved'

Though there has been conversation surrounding a supposed lack of engagement from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission about applications for spot ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs), Grayscale's Chief Legal Officer, Craig Salm, believes the highly anticipated products "should be approved."

In a thread posted on social media platform X, Salm explained his belief that a perceived "lack of SEC engagement" is not necessarily a negative signal for spot ether ETFs because many details have already been hammered out in the months leading up to the approval of today's spot bitcoin ETFs.

"In the final months leading up to Bitcoin ETF approval, Grayscale and others received positive and constructive engagement from the SEC," Salm wrote, adding: "We had thoughtful conversations and discussed the finer details of creation/redemption procedures, cash v. in-kind, APs, LPs, custody, etc."

"All of these issues were figured out and are identical when comparing spot Bitcoin to Ethereum ETH +5.88% ETFs," Salm claims.

"The only difference is rather than the ETF holding bitcoin, it holds ether. So in many ways, the SEC already has engaged and issuers simply have less to engage on this time," he added.

Taking an opposing view, Galaxy Digital's head of firmwide research, Alex Thorn, shared their belief that a spot ether ETF approval in May seems "extremely unlikely" following reports that the SEC issued subpoenas to crypto firms regarding their relationship with the Ethereum Foundation — something that has been classified as a campaign to classify ether as a security.

Salm's commentary also comes less than a week after the SEC filed a document delaying the deadline to decide on Grayscale's ether futures ETF — note, not a spot ETF — until May 30.