Ethereum
ARK Invest Makes Crucial Amendment to SEC Filing for ETH ETF
Vladislav Sopov
Ark Invest, led by Cathie Wood, completely removes staking from its spot Ether ETF filing with the SEC, the community is confused
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Amid increasing scrutiny from the US SEC, investment heavyweights have decided to remove staking elements from their S-1 Form applications. While experts question the exact motivation of the ARK and 21 Shares teams, it remains unclear whether other candidates will follow.
ARK Ether ETF: ETH Staking Requirements Disappear From SEC Filing
ARK Invest and 21 Shares have removed the description of potential Ether (ETH) staking from their SEC filings for spot launch of ETH ETFs in the United States. Fox Business correspondent and frequent commentator on the ETF saga, Eleanor Terrett, noticed this amendment yesterday, May 10, 2024.
Prior to the amendment, companies informed the SEC of their intention to join ETH staking following the Ethereum ETF spot approval. Requesters generally “expected” to invest a portion of the ETH under management through trusted staking providers.
If this works, ETH staking rewards would be treated as trust income and taxed accordingly under relevant IRS guidelines.
Furthermore, the plaintiffs pointed out that ETH staking is associated with a risk of potential loss of tokens due to the “slashing” procedure in Ethereum PoS as well as a lack of limited access in the time to ETH locked in staking contracts.
Crypto coin staking was frequently targeted by US regulators. As covered by U.Today previously, the SEC has come after the Kraken exchange for its staking activities in 2023.
Although the issue was resolved, the SEC attempted to sue Coinbase over its staking program, which was allegedly associated with unregistered securities transactions.
‘One less thing for the SEC to use in case of rejection’: Bloomberg’s Eric Balchunas on an intriguing decision
Terrett wondered if we should expect similar moves from other asset managers awaiting one-time approval of the ETH ETF and what exactly the role of SEC comments is in this process.
Eric Balchunas, senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg, is not very optimistic about the effects of such an unexpected amendment, he stressed in a press release. Tweeter:
Hmmm. Interesting. While it may appear that they are formatting their filings based on comments from the SEC (which would be good news), there have been no comments. So it’s probably a Hail Mary or maybe trying to give SEC one less thing to use in their rejection. Not sure yet)
Last week, the US SEC further delayed the decision on Spot ETF approvals for Invesco Galaxy. As of April 2024, the regulator has also not delivered its final verdict on the applications of Franklin Templeton and Grayscale.
Spot Bitcoin ETFs were approved by the SEC in January 2024, sparking a significant influx of money into 11 newly created products.
About the Author
Vladislav Sopov
Blockchain analyst and writer with a scientific background. 6+ years in computer analysis, 3+ years in blockchain.
Worked in independent analyzes as well as in start-ups (Swap.online, Monoreto, Attic Lab etc.)