BlackRock Ethereum ETF SEC Decision Postponed

The decision on BlackRock's proposed spot Ether (ETH) exchange-traded fund (ETF) by the U.S. securities regulator has been postponed by a day before the original deadline.

The regulator cited the necessity of additional time for reviewing the proposed rule change.

Sherry Haywood, the assistant secretary of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), stated in a filing dated January 24, “The Commission finds it appropriate to designate a longer period within which to take action on the proposed rule change.”

This delay by the SEC occurred just one day before the deadline of January 25. It marks the first in a series of possible delays within a total span of 240 days.

This comes after nearly 45 days since Nasdaq filed an application for an iShares Ethereum Trust on behalf of BlackRock on December 11.

A final decision by the SEC on this spot Ether ETF must be made by August 7.

However, Eric Balchunas, an ETF analyst at Bloomberg, anticipates that a decision on all pending spot Ether ETFs will likely occur in May, drawing a parallel to the SEC's approach to 10 pending spot Bitcoin ETFs on January 10.

The final decision dates for other Ether ETF applications, such as those from VanEck and Ark 21Shares, are set for May 23 and May 24.

Meanwhile, applications from Grayscale Investments, Invesco Galaxy, and Fidelity Investments have their final decision deadlines on June 18, July 5, and August 3, respectively.

James Seyffart, another ETF analyst at Bloomberg, mentioned on January 24 that the next significant date is May 23, and he anticipates further sporadic delays in spot Ether ETF approvals over the coming months.

Earlier in the month, Balchunas estimated the likelihood of a spot Ether ETF approval by May at 70%.

SEC Commissioner Hester “Crypto Mom” Peirce recently reassured that it wouldn't be necessary for applicants to engage in a legal battle to gain approval for the spot Ether ETFs, stating, “We shouldn’t need a court to tell us that our approach is ‘arbitrary and capricious’ in order for us to get it right.”

However, some experts in the industry remain skeptical. Mark Yusko, CEO of Morgan Creek Capital, predicts a less than 50% chance for the approval of a spot Ether ETF, arguing that the SEC is generally antagonistic toward the cryptocurrency sector.

Sources:

https://cointelegraph.com/news/sec-delay-decision-blackrock-spot-ethereum-etf-to-march

https://twitter.com/JSeyff/status/1750247415137833151

https://www.sec.gov/files/rules/sro/nasdaq/2024/34-99419.pdf