以太坊 ETF 即將到來，但你應該買它們嗎？

5月22日，美國證券交易委員會（SEC）批准了首批8筆以太坊（ETH -1.47%）現貨價格交易所交易基金（ETF）申請

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved the first eight applications for Ether (ETH -1.47%) spot price exchange-traded funds (ETFs) from Grayscale, Bitwise, iShares, VanEck, Ark Invest, Invesco, Fidelity, and Franklin Templeton. Here are five key facts investors should know about these upcoming ETFs:

美國證券交易委員會 (SEC) 已批准來自 Grayscale、Bitwise、iShares、VanEck、Ark Invest、Invesco、Fidelity 和 Franklin 的首批 8 批以太幣 (ETH -1.47%) 現貨價格交易所交易基金 (ETF) 申請坦普爾頓。關於這些即將推出的 ETF，投資人應了解以下五個關鍵事實：

1. They won't start trading anytime soon. The SEC has approved the initial regulatory filings for these eight Ether ETFs, but they won't start trading until the agency approves their S-1 filings. That process could take several months. For reference, the SEC approved the S-1 filings for the first Bitcoin (BTC -0.26%) spot price ETFs approximately three months after clearing their initial regulatory filings.

1. 他們不會很快開始交易。 SEC 已批准了這 8 隻 ETH ETF 的初始監管申請，但在該機構批准其 S-1 申請之前，它們不會開始交易。這個過程可能需要幾個月的時間。作為參考，美國證券交易委員會在批准其初始監管文件大約三個月後批准了第一批比特幣 (BTC -0.26%) 現貨價格 ETF 的 S-1 文件。

2. This decision turns Ether into a commodity. In the past, the Ethereum and Bitcoin blockchains both used an energy-intensive proof of work (PoW) mining method to produce coins. But in 2022, the Ethereum Network switched to the more energy-efficient proof of stake (PoS) method. That transition, known as "The Merge," reduced the network's energy consumption by 99.95% and made it deflationary -- which meant more Ether was being burned than produced.

2. 這項決定將以太幣變成了一種商品。過去，以太坊和比特幣區塊鏈都使用能源密集型工作量證明（PoW）挖礦方法來生產硬幣。但在 2022 年，以太坊網路轉向了更節能的權益證明（PoS）方法。這種被稱為「合併」的轉變將網路的能源消耗減少了 99.95%，並導致通貨緊縮——這意味著燃燒的以太幣多於生產的以太幣。

However, the SEC initially claimed The Merge made the Ether coin and Ethereum-based tokens more similar to securities than commodities. The move made a radical change to how Ether coins are created and managed. Regulators then repeatedly declared that Bitcoin was the only cryptocurrency that could be classified and pinned to spot price as a commodity, since it was digitally mined like a precious metal through the PoW method.

然而，美國證券交易委員會最初聲稱合併使以太幣和基於以太坊的代幣更類似於證券而不是商品。此舉徹底改變了以太幣的創建和管理方式。隨後，監管機構一再宣稱，比特幣是唯一可以作為商品歸類並與現貨價格掛鉤的加密貨幣，因為它是透過 PoW 方法像貴金屬一樣進行數位開採的。

3. Ether ETF investors can't stake their holdings. Another key difference between Ether and Bitcoin is the process of "staking," which allows investors to earn interest by locking up their Ether coins on the network for a period of time. The SEC, which argues that staking-as-a-service solutions should be classified as unregistered securities, previously sued cryptocurrency exchanges including Coinbase (COIN -3.16%) and Kraken for allowing users to stake their own coins.

3. 以太ETF投資者不能質押其持有的股票。以太幣和比特幣之間的另一個關鍵區別是「質押」過程，它允許投資者透過在網路上鎖定以太幣一段時間來賺取利息。美國證券交易委員會認為，質押即服務解決方案應歸類為未註冊證券，此前曾起訴 Coinbase (COIN -3.16%) 和 Kraken 等加密貨幣交易所允許用戶質押自己的代幣。

Grayscale, Ark, and the other firms originally wanted to add staking features in their ETFs, but they removed those proposals in their updated filings last month. That change could make their ETFs less appealing than the actual digital coins.

Grayscale、Ark 和其他公司最初希望在其 ETF 中添加質押功能，但他們在上個月更新的文件中刪除了這些提議。這項變化可能會使他們的 ETF 不如實際的數位貨幣那麼有吸引力。

4. The SEC probably approved these filings to avoid more litigation. Last year, the SEC lost a lawsuit against Grayscale, which had sued the agency for trying to block the conversion of its popular Bitcoin trust into an ETF. That loss softened the SEC's position and cleared the way for the first Bitcoin ETFs.

4. SEC 批准這些申請可能是為了避免更多訴訟。去年，SEC 輸掉了針對 Grayscale 的訴訟，Grayscale 起訴該機構試圖阻止其廣受歡迎的比特幣信託基金轉換為 ETF。這一損失削弱了 SEC 的地位，並為第一批比特幣 ETF 掃清了道路。

Earlier this year, blockchain company Consensys sued the SEC for its refusal to recognize Ether as a commodity, while Grayscale and its peers were widely expected to sue the SEC again if it didn't approve their regulatory filings for spot price ETFs. So for now, it seems the SEC has backed off on tightly regulating Ether to avoid more legal battles.

今年早些時候，區塊鏈公司Consensys 起訴美國證券交易委員會拒絕承認以太幣為商品，而人們普遍預計，如果美國證券交易委員會不批准其現貨價格ETF 的監管備案，Grayscale 及其同業將再次起訴美國證券交易委員會。因此，就目前而言，美國證券交易委員會似乎已經放棄了對以太幣的嚴格監管，以避免更多的法律糾紛。

5. These Ether ETFs should attract less attention than the Bitcoin ETFs Grayscale currently holds nearly $11 billion in assets in its GrayScale Ethereum Trust (ETHE -1.55%), which it's attempting to convert into a spot price ETF. However, that's a lot smaller than the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust before its conversion into its spot price ETF, which now hosts more than $20 billion in assets.

5. 這些以太坊 ETF 應該比比特幣 ETF 吸引更少的關注 Grayscale 目前在其 GrayScale 以太坊信託 (ETHE -1.55%) 中持有近 110 億美元的資產，並試圖將其轉換為現貨價格 ETF。然而，這比灰階比特幣信託基金轉換為現貨價格 ETF 之前的規模要小得多，後者目前擁有超過 200 億美元的資產。

These new Ether ETFs might attract some attention from mainstream and institutional investors, but they probably won't gain as much momentum as the Bitcoin spot price ETFs earlier this year. Ether also doesn't have any major near-term catalysts that are comparable to Bitcoin's halving, which halved the rewards for mining, earlier this year.

這些新的以太坊 ETF 可能會吸引主流和機構投資者的一些關注，但它們可能不會像今年早些時候的比特幣現貨價格 ETF 那樣獲得如此大的動力。以太坊也沒有任何可與今年稍早比特幣減半相媲美的重大近期催化劑，比特幣減半將挖礦獎勵減半。