“SEC Puts Ethereum ETF Decision on hold : Awaiting BlackRock’s milestone moment”

“SEC Delays Decision on Ethereum ETFs Until May”

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has postponed its decision on several applications for exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that would track the price of Ethereum’s native cryptocurrency, ether (ETH). The SEC announced on Monday that it would extend the review period for the proposals from BlackRock, Fidelity, Hashdex, and Grayscale, and seek public comments on the potential impact of these products on the market.

Experts are hypothesizing That a decision could potentially be made by May 23, coinciding with a similar submission from VanEck .

Amidst the legal ambiguities , the Ethereum price has soared to a yearly high, fuelled by anticipation of the ETF .

The SEC has never approved a spot ETH ETF for listing on a U.S. exchange, though it has given the green light to investment vehicles tied to crypto futures. The regulator has also recently approved several spot Bitcoin ETFs, which have attracted billions of dollars in inflows since their launch in January.

The applicants for the ETH ETFs have argued that the same rationale that led to the approval of the Bitcoin ETFs should also apply to the ether market, which is the second-largest by market capitalization and has a high level of liquidity, transparency, and regulation. They have also claimed that the ETH ETFs would provide investors with exposure to the growing decentralized finance (DeFi) sector, which is largely built on the Ethereum blockchain.

However, the SEC has expressed concerns about the potential for market manipulation, fraud, and investor protection issues in the crypto space, and has requested more information from the applicants and the public on these matters. The SEC has also asked for feedback on whether the spot and futures ETH ETFs are similar or different, and whether the arguments in favor of the Bitcoin ETFs are equally valid for the ether market.

The SEC has set different deadlines for each application, ranging from May 7 to May 23, 2024. These are the final dates by which the SEC must either approve or deny the proposals, unless the applicants withdraw or amend them. Some analysts have speculated that the SEC may be more likely to approve the ETH ETFs after the final deadline, as it did with the Bitcoin ETFs. However, others have cautioned that the SEC may still have reservations about the ETH market, especially given its complexity and innovation.

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