The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has postponed its decision deadline on Fidelity’s proposed spot Ethereum ETF to March 5.
According to Thursday’s filing, the SEC “has determined that it is appropriate to specify a longer period for taking action on the proposed rule change” in order to have “sufficient time to consider the proposed rule change and the issues it raises.”
Bloomberg Intelligence ETF analyst James Seyffart said The delay was “completely expected,” he said, adding, “I think the really important date is the end of May.”
Fidelity has filed a spot Ethereum ETF for November 2023, along with BlackRock, Ark Invest/21shares, and VanEck.
Seyffart’s colleague Eric Balchunas said he was confident the Ethereum ETF would be approved in 2024 earlier this month, noting that there was a 70% chance it would be approved by May. Speaking on Rug Radio’s FOMO Hour, Balchunas said the SEC’s pre-approval of an Ethereum futures ETF has backed the regulator into a corner. That’s because the SEC’s approval of a Bitcoin futures ETF led to a court order to review Grayscale’s application for a spot Bitcoin ETF.
Last week, the SEC approved several spot Bitcoin ETF applications, with Chairman Gary Gensler admitting that the situation has “changed” following the court order.
“You actually have to approve the Ether spot (ETF) or you’re going to get sued again for the same reasons,” Balchunas said during an appearance on Rug Radio late last week.
In a statement following the approval of the spot Bitcoin ETF, SEC Chairman Gensler said, “Today’s Commission action is limited to ETPs holding Bitcoin, a non-secure commodity, and should not in any way indicate the Commission’s will.” said. “Approval of Cryptocurrency Securities Listing Standards” Gensler added, “This approval does not signal anything about the Commission’s views on the status of other cryptocurrency assets under the federal securities laws.”
During his term as SEC chairman, Gensler repeatedly refused to clarify whether the regulator would consider: Ethereum Securities or products.
While lecturing on blockchain at MIT before taking his position at the regulator, Gensler said that in the eyes of the SEC, Ethereum is “not a security,” noting that the cryptocurrency is considered “sufficiently decentralized.” I did. You deserve it. Gensler appeared to echo the opinions of William Hinman, the SEC’s former director of corporate finance, who gave a much-quoted June 2018 “Sufficiently Diversified” speech.
Gensler’s fellow regulator and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chairman Rostin Behnam expressed the view that Ethereum should be considered a commodity.
