The US SEC is delaying its decision on Ethereum ETFs filed by BlackRock, Grayscale and Franklin Templeton. The decision is now expected in June.
Market experts have been sounding the warning about the SEC’s lack of interest and engagement with prospective issuers, which indicated the agency had no interest in approving the ETFs.
Grayscale and BlackRock will have to wait an extra 60 days for the decision on their Ethereum exchange-traded fund (ETF) application with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
BlackRock first filed its application last November. In March this year, the SEC announced the decision to push its deadline, as Crypto News Flash reported. This was the second postponement after a similar decision in January.
Last week, BlackRock filed an amendment to its application, with most of the changes being made to the creation and redemption of the product’s shares. While acknowledging the amendments, the SEC announced this week that its decision will be delayed by another 60 days.
Grayscale will receive similar treatment. As it did with Bitcoin, the investment manager is seeking to turn its Ethereum trust into a spot ETF. However, like all its peers, it will have to wait a little longer for the SEC to decide on its application.
In its notice, the regulator stated:
The Commission finds that it is appropriate to designate a longer period within which to issue an order approving or disapproving the proposed rule change so that it has sufficient time to consider the proposed rule change. Accordingly, the Commission, designates June 23, 2024, as the date by which the Commission shall either approve or disapprove the proposed rule change.
Will SEC Approve Ethereum ETFs?
Grayscale and BlackRock, the two most prominent players in the Bitcoin ETF sector, join a growing list of applicants for the Ethereum ETF whose deadlines have been pushed by the SEC.
Just hours earlier, the agency had shot down Franklin Templeton’s attempt to be the first Ethereum ETF issuer. The $1.5 trillion asset manager will have to wait until June 11.
“The Commission finds it appropriate to designate a longer period within which to take action on the proposed rule change so that it has sufficient time to consider the proposed rule change and the issues raised therein,” the regulator said of the Franklin Templeton application.
The SEC’s delays are nothing new. With Bitcoin, the agency hit the industry with delays for years, and it would probably have kept doing it if it hadn’t been for Grayscale. After its application was dismissed, the company took the SEC to court for its arbitrary decision and won, paving the way for the thriving ecosystem of BTC ETFs we have today.
With Ethereum, it’s different. For one, the SEC hasn’t exempted Ether from being a security as it did with Bitcoin. Second, the agency is unlikely to approve the two cryptos this close to each other. As some market experts have observed, the SEC is likely.
Ether trades at $3,278, gaining 2.96% in the past day and 8.44% in the past week.
