Nasdaq and Cboe have been urged by the US SEC to alter their spot Ethereum ETF plans. This request is vital to the regulatory review process and shows the SEC’s commitment to ensuring certain financial products fulfill requirements.
Grayscale, BlackRock, Vaneck, 21Shares, Ark Invest, Hashdex, Invesco, Galaxy, Fidelity, Franklin Templeton, and Bitwise await SEC approval of their ETF applications.
Market speculation has grown, with Bloomberg experts like James Seyffart upping approval chances from 25% to 75%. Over $800 billion asset manager Standard Chartered expects 80-90% approval.
Seyffart reported that Grayscale revised their Ethereum Mini Trust 19b-4 form, indicating increasing ETF proposal activity. He said that this is an initial file and does not anticipate it in the first approval wave.
Fidelity Investments removed staking from its spot Ethereum ETF proposal in its latest SEC filing. This change is strategic in reaction to regulatory uncertainty.
Galaxy Digital research chief Alex Thorn said the SEC may differentiate between Ethereum and staked Ethereum in its laws.
If the SEC does a 180 on Ethereum ETFs, they may attempt to balance ‘ETH’ not being a securities and ‘staked ETH’ being one. That would let the SEC accept Ethereum ETFs while keeping their views, said Thorn.
The SEC’s thorough analysis and Fidelity’s strategy changes suggest a cautious approach to releasing these financial products. All proposed ETFs must meet SEC rules, offering a strong foundation for these new financial vehicles.
