Hassan Maishera
TL;DR
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The US SEC has delayed its decision on BlackRock’s proposed spot Ethereum ETF to March.
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The regulator also delayed Fidelity’s application for the Fidelity Ethereum Fund.
SEC Delays Decision on Spot Ether ETF
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission has delayed its decision timeline on BlackRock's proposal for a spot Ethereum exchange-traded fund to March. The regulator revealed this in a filing on Wednesday. According to the filing, the SEC said,
"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 now has until March 10th to approve, disapprove or institute additional proceedings on the proposed ETF. The US SEC also delayed its decision on Fidelity's application for the Fidelity Ethereum Fund last week.
BlackRock, the world’s largest asset management firm, filed for its spot Ethereum ETF, called the iShares Ethereum Trust, in November.
The US SEC approved spot Bitcoin ETFs earlier this month and many crypto experts are optimistic that a spot Ether ETF is on the horizon. Many expect the SEC to approve a spot Ether ETF as early as May.
However, SEC Chair Gary Gensler is not optimistic that there will be other crypto-linked ETFs soon. In a media briefing on Wednesday, Gensler said,
"As I said two weeks ago, that which we did with regard to bitcoin exchange-traded products is cabined to this one commodity non-security and shouldn't be read to be anything other than that."
Bitcoin has lost nearly 20% of its value since the spot Bitcoin ETFs were approved two weeks ago. However, industry experts remain optimistic that the ETFs would be crucial to the crypto market’s growth in the medium to long term.
