以太坊 ETF 即将到来，但你应该购买它们吗？

5月22日，美国证券交易委员会（SEC）批准了首批8笔以太坊（ETH -1.47%）现货价格交易所交易基金（ETF）申请

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:

美国证券交易委员会 (SEC) 已批准来自 Grayscale、Bitwise、iShares、VanEck、Ark Invest、Invesco、Fidelity 和 Franklin 的首批 8 批以太币 (ETH -1.47%) 现货价格交易所交易基金 (ETF) 申请坦普尔顿。关于这些即将推出的 ETF，投资者应了解以下五个关键事实：

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. 他们不会很快开始交易。 SEC 已批准了这 8 只 ETH ETF 的初始监管申请，但在该机构批准其 S-1 申请之前，它们不会开始交易。这个过程可能需要几个月的时间。作为参考，美国证券交易委员会在批准其初始监管文件大约三个月后批准了第一批比特币 (BTC -0.26%) 现货价格 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. 这一决定将以太币变成了一种商品。过去，以太坊和比特币区块链都使用能源密集型工作量证明（PoW）挖矿方法来生产硬币。但在 2022 年，以太坊网络转向了更节能的权益证明（PoS）方法。这种被称为“合并”的转变将网络的能源消耗减少了 99.95%，并导致通货紧缩——这意味着燃烧的以太币多于生产的以太币。

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，美国证券交易委员会最初声称合并使以太币和基于以太坊的代币更类似于证券而不是商品。此举彻底改变了以太币的创建和管理方式。随后，监管机构一再宣称，比特币是唯一可以作为商品归类并与现货价格挂钩的加密货币，因为它是通过 PoW 方法像贵金属一样进行数字开采的。

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投资者不能质押其持有的股票。以太币和比特币之间的另一个关键区别是“质押”过程，它允许投资者通过在网络上锁定以太币一段时间来赚取利息。美国证券交易委员会认为，质押即服务解决方案应归类为未注册证券，此前曾起诉 Coinbase (COIN -3.16%) 和 Kraken 等加密货币交易所允许用户质押自己的代币。

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 中添加质押功能，但他们在上个月更新的文件中删除了这些提议。这一变化可能会使他们的 ETF 不如实际数字货币那么有吸引力。

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 批准这些申请可能是为了避免更多诉讼。去年，SEC 输掉了针对 Grayscale 的诉讼，Grayscale 起诉该机构试图阻止其广受欢迎的比特币信托基金转换为 ETF。这一损失削弱了 SEC 的地位，并为第一批比特币 ETF 扫清了道路。

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.

今年早些时候，区块链公司 Consensys 起诉美国证券交易委员会拒绝承认以太币为商品，而人们普遍预计，如果美国证券交易委员会不批准其现货价格 ETF 的监管备案，Grayscale 及其同行将再次起诉美国证券交易委员会。因此，就目前而言，美国证券交易委员会似乎已经放弃了对以太币的严格监管，以避免更多的法律纠纷。

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. 这些以太坊 ETF 应该比比特币 ETF 吸引更少的关注 Grayscale 目前在其 GrayScale 以太坊信托 (ETHE -1.55%) 中持有近 110 亿美元的资产，并试图将其转换为现货价格 ETF。然而，这比灰度比特币信托基金转换为现货价格 ETF 之前的规模要小得多，后者目前拥有超过 200 亿美元的资产。

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.

这些新的以太坊 ETF 可能会吸引主流和机构投资者的一些关注，但它们可能不会像今年早些时候的比特币现货价格 ETF 那样获得如此大的动力。以太坊也没有任何可与今年早些时候比特币减半相媲美的重大近期催化剂，比特币减半将挖矿奖励减半。