以太坊 ETF 獲得美國監管機構批准，這是加密產業的里程碑

（彭博）—美國監管機構批准了第一隻直接投資全球第二大加密貨幣以太幣的美國交易所交易基金

(Bloomberg) -- Eight issuers including BlackRock Inc., Invesco Ltd. and Fidelity Investments were among those receiving the green light from the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Many of them were players during the debut of spot Bitcoin ETFs in January.

（彭博）—貝萊德 (BlackRock Inc.)、景順 (Invesco Ltd.) 和富達投資 (Fidelity Investments) 等八家發行人獲得了美國證券交易委員會的批准。他們中的許多人都是一月份比特幣現貨 ETF 首次亮相時的參與者。

While crypto faithfuls have celebrated the milestone, many are not expecting blockbuster flows similar to that cohort of Bitcoin funds. Citigroup strategists in a note estimated that the Ether funds as a group could see inflows between $4.7 billion to $5.4 billion in the six months after they debut. By contrast, BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF crossed the $1 billion threshold by itself less than a week into trading.

儘管加密貨幣忠實擁護者慶祝了這一里程碑，但許多人並不期待與比特幣基金類似的巨額資金流。花旗集團策略師在一份報告中估計，以太坊基金作為一個整體，在推出後的六個月內可能會出現 47 億至 54 億美元的資金流入。相比之下，貝萊德的比特幣 ETF 交易不到一周就突破了 10 億美元的門檻。

Here’s a quick guide to the approval and what it means for the digital-asset industry:

以下是有關批准及其對數位資產行業意味著什麼的快速指南：

What is Ether?

什麼是以太幣？

Ether is the native token of Ethereum, the most commercially used blockchain, the decentralized ledgers that record transactions and provide proof of ownership that is the crypto world’s main innovation. Investors can earn passive income by temporarily making their tokens available to the Ethereum network to use in helping validate transactions, a process called staking. For technical reasons, taking that payout can be much simpler when staking through an ETF than directly.

以太幣是以太坊的原生代幣，以太坊是最商業化使用的區塊鏈，是記錄交易並提供所有權證明的去中心化帳本，這是加密世界的主要創新。投資者可以透過暫時將其代幣提供給以太坊網路來幫助驗證交易來賺取被動收入，這一過程稱為「質押」。出於技術原因，透過 ETF 進行抵押比直接抵押要簡單得多。

What led to the approval?

是什麼導致了批准？

The approval of spot Ether ETFs highlights a softening in the US regulatory climate for the digital-asset sector. A watershed legal victory for the industry last year has helped pave the way for the products.

現貨以太坊 ETF 的批准凸顯了美國數位資產產業監管環境的軟化。去年該行業取得的具有里程碑意義的法律勝利為這些產品鋪平了道路。

The decision also offers more clarity on the status of Ether in the eyes of the SEC. Until now, the agency had often moved to block crypto’s expansion on the ground that many offerings constituted a security, meaning they should be regulated the way stocks and bonds and many other tradable assets are.

該決定也使 SEC 眼中的以太幣地位更加清晰。到目前為止，該機構經常採取行動阻止加密貨幣的擴張，理由是許多產品構成了證券，這意味著它們應該像股票、債券和許多其他可交易資產一樣受到監管。

While SEC Chair Gary Gensler has argued that many digital assets are unregistered securities, he’s refused to say if Ether is part of that group. Bitcoin, the world’s largest digital asset, is the only cryptocurrency that Gensler has definitively said isn’t a security in his view. He regards it as a commodity.

儘管 SEC 主席 Gary Gensler 辯稱許多數位資產都是未註冊的證券，但他拒絕透露以太幣是否屬於該類別。比特幣是世界上最大的數位資產，也是 Gensler 明確表示不是證券的唯一加密貨幣。他將其視為一種商品。

The difference between Bitcoin and Ether in the eyes of the SEC lay in Ether’s staking mechanism. Putting money into a common pool and earning a return strikes many regulators as meeting the definition of a security. That meant that the applications for spot-Ether ETFs that proposed to allow staking were seen as unlikely to be approved.

在 SEC 眼中，比特幣和以太幣的差別在於以太幣的質押機制。許多監管機構認為，將資金投入公共資金池並獲得回報符合證券的定義。這意味著提議允許質押的以太坊現貨 ETF 申請被認為不太可能獲得批准。

But issuers subsequently vowed to keep the Ether they buy out of staking programs and said they wouldn’t invest in Ether-related derivatives. The SEC has not said what led to the approval, but these kinds of concessions likely played a role.

但發行人隨後發誓將把他們購買的以太幣排除在質押計畫之外，並表示他們不會投資與以太幣相關的衍生性商品。美國證券交易委員會尚未透露是什麼導致了批准，但此類讓步可能發揮了作用。

What can we expect?

我們可以期待什麼？

BlackRock and Fidelity will likely attract the most volume and assets, wrote Bloomberg Intelligence strategists James Seyffart and Eric Balchunas, though they expect the Ether ETF flows over the next year to be around 20% of the Bitcoin ETF flows. That correlates to expectations of $5 billion to $6 billion of Ether ETF inflows.

彭博資訊策略師 James Seyffart 和 Eric Balchunas 寫道，貝萊德和富達可能會吸引最多的交易量和資產，儘管他們預計明年以太坊 ETF 流量將佔比特幣 ETF 流量的 20% 左右。這與以太坊 ETF 流入 50 億至 60 億美元的預期有關。

Similar funds have done better outside the US in places including Hong Kong, Canada, Sweden and Switzerland, where spot Ether and Bitcoin ETFs recently launched. A key reason for the difference could be that other jurisdictions have ETFs that permit staking.

類似的基金在美國以外的地方表現較好，包括香港、加拿大、瑞典和瑞士，這些地方最近推出了現貨以太幣和比特幣 ETF。造成差異的關鍵原因可能是其他司法管轄區擁有允許質押的 ETF。