According to Cointelegraph, Grayscale Investments' Ether (ETH) futures exchange-traded fund (ETF) application is being viewed as a 'trojan horse' to corner the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) into approving its spot Ether ETF, according to Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart. In a Nov. 15 Twitter post, Seyffart stated that if the SEC approves Grayscale's application, it would enable the asset manager to argue for the approval of its spot Ether ETF application. If the SEC denies the bid, Grayscale could argue that the SEC is treating Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether futures ETFs differently by allowing one under the Securities Act of 1933 but not the other.
Seyffart believes Grayscale is playing 'chess' with the SEC by using the Ether Futures ETF as a 'trojan horse' to obtain a 19b-4 order from the regulator to corner them into a lose-lose situation. Scott Johnsson, General President at Van Buren Capital General, agreed with Seyffart, stating that Grayscale likely wouldn't launch the Ether futures ETF, but it could be useful as a vessel to get spot ETH over the finish line. The SEC delayed its decision on Grayscale's Ether futures ETF on Nov. 15, two days earlier than its Nov. 17 deadline. Hashdex's application to convert its Bitcoin futures ETF into a spot product was also put on hold by the securities regulator on Nov. 15. Last week, BlackRock shared a similar sentiment to Seyffart, arguing that the SEC doesn't have a legitimate reason to treat cryptocurrency spot and futures ETF applications differently.
