The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has announced a delay in its decision regarding several Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs), with the new decision date set for May 2024.
This decision postponement was disclosed in regulatory filings made on December 18, 2023.
Two of the ETFs affected by this delay are the Hashdex Nasdaq Ethereum ETF and the Grayscale Ethereum Futures ETF.
The Hashdex Ether ETF has an objective to include both spot Ether and futures contracts in its portfolio.
On the other hand, the Grayscale Ethereum Futures ETF is strategically designed to act as a “trojan horse” that may lead the SEC to permit Grayscale to transform its Ethereum Trust into a spot Ethereum ETF.
In its filings, the SEC explained that it is initiating proceedings to gather additional public input regarding the potential listing of these ETFs.
Alongside these, the SEC has also postponed its decision on the VanEck spot Ethereum ETF and the spot Ethereum ETF proposed by ARK Invest, led by Cathie Wood, and 21Shares.
Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart anticipated these delays, mentioning that they were expected to materialize before December 25.
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He further pointed out that the final decision deadline for the regulator is set for late May.
Notably, while the SEC has granted approval for Ethereum futures ETFs in the past, it has yet to approve a spot or mixed-type product related to Ether.
Concurrently, market attention is primarily focused on whether the SEC will give the green light to 13 spot Bitcoin ETFs prior to these Ether ETFs.
Analysts Seyffart and Eric Balchunas, also of Bloomberg, have estimated a 90% likelihood of approval for a spot Bitcoin ETF.
The prospect of institutional access to Bitcoin has instilled optimism in the market, and in the last six months, Bitcoin’s price has surged by over 44%.
Ether, while showing slightly less significant gains in the same period, has still experienced a notable 16.8% increase in its price, based on TradingView data.
The crypto market remains on edge, awaiting the SEC’s decisions on these ETFs and their potential implications for the broader cryptocurrency landscape.
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