SEC drops investigation into Ethereum
SEC's approval of a spot Ether ETF does not mean ETH is a commodity. She added that there are already ETFs with commodities as the underlying asset
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) case to prove Ether is a security may not have been as strong as it let on. The SEC closed its investigation into whether Ether is a security on June 19.
Consensys lawyer Laura Brookover said there will be "no more protestations from the SEC that Ether is a security." She said it was a reaction to being pushed to "lift the subpoenas on Consensys given their recent ETH [exchange-traded fund] rule change approvals predicated on ETH being a commodity."
The letter from Consensys states that the SEC's approval of spot Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs) indicated that it had "updated its position to classify Ether as a commodity and not a security."
However, the Commission itself has not publicly confirmed Consensys' thesis. An SEC spokesperson told it "does not comment on the existence or nonexistence of a possible investigation."
Still, Carol Goforth, a professor at the University of Arkansas School of Law specializing in business associations and securities regulation, claims that the SEC's approval of a spot Ether ETF does not mean ETH is a commodity. She added that there are already ETFs with commodities as the underlying asset.
