The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has reportedly contacted major U.S. exchanges in order to request updates to their applications for listing and trading spot Ether (ETH) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) from asset managers.
As per a report from Reuters on May 21, SEC officials reached out to the Nasdaq, the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) to make changes to existing spot Ether ETF applications before the regulatory deadline. The commission has until May 23 to decide whether to approve or deny VanEck’s spot Ether ETF after delaying the process for 240 days.
This request from the SEC to U.S. exchanges could potentially signal regulatory approval. On May 20, two ETF analysts increased their odds of the SEC approving a spot ETF tied to Ether from 25% to 75% after hearing rumors that applicants should expedite their 19b-4 filings. Before any spot Ether ETFs can be listed, exchanges are required to file 19b-4s and S-1 registration statements with the SEC.
If VanEck’s application is approved by the SEC, it could pave the way for the approval of spot Ether ETFs offered by ARK 21Shares, BlackRock, Fidelity, Hashdex, and Invesco Galaxy. Fidelity has already modified its S-1 filing to state that the Ether connected to the investment vehicle will not be staked, suggesting that this requirement may be necessary for approval.
Previously, SEC filings, public statements from Chair Gary Gensler, and reports of investigations indicated that the commission may have been preparing to deny spot Ether ETF applications, which is still a possibility at the time of writing. The commission began approving investment vehicles tied to ETH futures in October 2023 and spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs in January.
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