Chairman and Founder of MicroStrategy, Michael Saylor, has recently made predictions about the future regulation of Ethereum (ETH) and the rejection of the proposed ETF for it.

During his presentation at the MicroStrategy World 2024 conference on Thursday (2/5/2024), he shared his opinions which were widely discussed on social media platforms.

Ethereum ETF Will Be Rejected

According to Crypto Slate, Saylor expressed his belief that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will classify Ethereum as a security this summer and subsequently reject the application for its spot Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) from various asset managers, including industry giant BlackRock.

Furthermore, Saylor anticipated that other cryptos he mentioned, including BNB, Solana (SOL), XRP, and Cardano (ADA), would also be considered unregistered securities.

He stated that none of these cryptos would be included in the spot ETF, nor accepted by traditional financial institutions on Wall Street. This viewpoint highlights broader doubts about the integration of most digital assets into mainstream financial products, except for Bitcoin (BTC).

Bitcoin: The Only Institutionally Accepted

Saylor argued that Bitcoin is the only crypto that has gained full acceptance from institutions. During his presentation, he emphasized that Bitcoin is a universally institutional-grade crypto asset and boldly claimed that there would be no other.

This view aligns with MicroStrategy's investment strategy that prioritizes Bitcoin over other cryptos. Indeed, MicroStrategy's investment actions reflect Saylor's confidence. Just a few days before the conference, the company announced that they had added $1.65 billion worth of Bitcoin to their corporate holdings during the first quarter of this year.

Additionally, the company introduced a Bitcoin-based decentralized identity (DID) product, further strengthening its commitment to the Bitcoin ecosystem.

Market Expectations for Ethereum ETF

However, the broader market reaction to Ethereum and the potential designation as a security has been highly varied. Early optimism about the approval of the Ethereum spot ETF has significantly diminished.

Prediction markets such as Polymarket now estimate the chances of ETF approval at only 11 percent. This decline in confidence reflects a broader reassessment among analysts who previously believed in approval odds of over 80 percent but have adjusted those expectations to below 30 percent.

The upcoming decision from the SEC is eagerly awaited, with a critical date set for May 23. On that day, the SEC must make a decision on the ETF proposed by VanEck.

This decision is expected to set a precedent for other similar applications. Furthermore, the SEC may need to officially declare whether ETH qualifies as a security.

This issue has become so important that blockchain development firm Consensys is actively seeking to compel the SEC through legal avenues to declare that ETH is not a security.

US lawmakers have also been pushing for further clarification on this issue regarding another company, Prometheum.