Hassan Maishera
TL;DR
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The US SEC has delayed its decision on BlackRock and Fidelity’s spot Ethereum ETF proposal for the second time.
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The regulator is seeking public feedback regarding the filings.
SEC Delays BlackRock’s Spot Ethereum ETF Proposal
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has delayed its decision timeline on BlackRock's proposal for a spot Ethereum exchange-traded fund. The regulator revealed this in a filing on Monday.
This is the second time the regulator delayed its decision on the BlackRock spot Ethereum ETF proposal. The regulator sought public opinion on Monday whether the iShares Ethereum Trust should be approved.
The SEC also asked whether Ethereum's proof of stake mechanism raised unique concerns about Ether’s susceptibility to fraud and manipulation.
In addition to BlackRock’s application, the SEC also delayed its decision on Fidelity's spot Ethereum ETF and solicited comments from the public. The regulator asked similar questions as it did for BlackRock.
BlackRock and Fidelity filed for their spot Ethereum ETFs in November 2023. Thanks to the approval of multiple spot Bitcoin ETFs, some firms including, Franklin Templeton, Ark 21Shares, VanEck and Grayscale have also filed for spot Ethereum ETFs
At the moment, there is no consensus amongst experts whether the SEC will approve a spot Ether ETF soon. Some experts are optimistic that the SEC will approve a spot Ether ETF as early as May. however, others are not too optimistic as they believe it is too soon for regulators to approve spot Ether ETFs.
Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, continues to rally higher despite the news. ETH is up by more than 4% in the last 24 hours and is now trading above $3,600 per coin.
