Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson has responded to the latest criticism about ADA, XRP, ether, and other altcoins from MicroStrategy chairman-cum-Bitcoin maximalist Michael Saylor.
Saylor Says SEC Will Never Approve ETH, ADA, XRP ETFs
Speaking during today’s presentation at the MicroStrategy World 2024 conference, Michael Saylor suggested that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) — spearheaded by Gary Gensler — will designate Ether (ETH), the market’s second-largest cryptocurrency, as an unregistered security this summer and consequently reject all spot ETH ETF applications.
Saylor also argued that other top cryptocurrencies, such as BNB (BNB), Solana’s SOL, Ripple’s XRP, and Cardano’s ADA, will face similar security categorization from the SEC.
“Ethereum is deemed to be a crypto asset security, not a commodity. After that, you’re gonna see that Ethereum, BNB, Solana, Ripple, Cardano, everything down the stack is just crypto-asset securities unregistered,” the former MicroStrategy CEO opined.
Saylor said he doesn’t see these altcoins attracting the attention of Wall Street and mainstream institutional investors. As such, they will never see the launch of spot ETFs based on them.
Contrarily, Saylor emphasized Bitcoin’s unique status as the only cryptocurrency with full institutional acceptance, calling it the “one universal” institutional-grade crypto asset with no contenders.
Notably, Saylor is not the only industry pundit skeptical about greenlighting spot ether ETFs in the foreseeable future. Tron founder Justin Sun said he doesn’t think the SEC will approve the ETH-based investment products this month. Moreover, the lack of detailed talks between the SEC and potential issuers has raised the chances of a rejection.
Hoskinson’s Response
Hoskinson responded to Saylor’s statements with a tinge of irony, referencing Bitcoiners who accuse him of frequently bashing Bitcoin and claim that “altcoiners are so toxic.” While throwing shots at major altcoins in the market, these Bitcoin maxis always claim that “literally everything but Bitcoin is illegal and a scam.”
Most Bitcoin maximalists believe BTC is the only crypto asset that deserves to exist, while altcoins are unregistered securities and scams. A conclusive security categorization for ether could affect how companies interact with the asset. Moreover, it could also influence the SEC’s approval of ETH spot ETF products.
Nonetheless, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink maintains that a spot ether ETF could still be possible even if the SEC deems ETH a security.
