The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has postponed its decision on whether to approve or disapprove Grayscale’s Ether ETF Spot fund. In an announcement on December 5th, the SEC stated that they would need more time to review the proposed rule change that would allow NYSE Arca to list and trade shares of the Grayscale Ethereum Trust.
The SEC mentioned, “The Commission finds that it is appropriate to designate a longer period within which to take action on the proposed rule change so that it has sufficient time to consider the issues raised therein.” They further designated January 25, 2024, as the date by which the SEC will approve or disapprove or initiate proceedings to determine whether to disapprove the proposed rule change.
It’s worth noting that the SEC has never approved a Bitcoin ETF or Ether spot ETF in the United States, although they have given the green light to investment vehicles tied to cryptocurrency futures contracts. Analyst James Seyffart of Bloomberg ETF speculates that if the commission decides to approve a BTC spot ETF, they might approve ETFs from multiple companies simultaneously.
Grayscale first applied to the SEC to convert shares of the Grayscale Ethereum Trust into an Ether spot ETF back in October, adding its name to the list of companies awaiting regulatory decisions.