Fidelity Ether ETF lags as more leveraged Bitcoin ETF bids flood in
The U.S. securities regulator has delayed a decision on asset manager Fidelity's Ether (ETH) exchange-traded fund (ETF) bid, amid a lawsuit filed with the regulator to approve another five leveraged bitcoin (BTC) ETFs.
The Securities and Exchange Commission said on January 18 that it was extending its deliberations for another 45 days “to allow sufficient time to consider the proposed rule change and the issues raised.”
The SEC has set March 5 as the next decision date. Bloomberg EFF analyst James Seifert said in a Jan. 18 Twitter post that he “fully expected” the delay.
Fidelity #ethereum ETF is just now late. It is fully protected. The most important dates in my view are at the end of May. https://t.co/8mvhcPRaS7
— James Seyff (@JSeyff) January 18, 2024
“The most important dates in my view are at the end of May,” he added, referring to the SEC's May 23 deadline to approve or deny VanEck's Ether ETF. Some analysts predict that the SEC could approve multiple pending Ether ETF offerings at once, as it did for the spot Bitcoin ETF.
A new deadline for suppression has fallen
May 23rd is the deadline for a decision on VanEck's spot ETH ETF pic.twitter.com/dgi5EVbPeQ
— Will (@WClementeIII) January 10, 2024
Meanwhile, Direxion joined rivals ProShares on Jan. 18 in filing for five Bitcoin ETFs with the SEC — which filed for five leveraged Bitcoin-tracking ETFs on Jan. 16 — and REX Shares filed for six leveraged Bitcoin ETFs on Jan. 3.
T-Rex files 6 leveraged and inverse Bitcoin ETFs
T-Rex 1.5X Reverse Spot Bitcoin Daily Target ETFT-Rex 1.5X Long Spot Bitcoin Daily Target ETFT-Rex 1.75X Reverse Spot Bitcoin Daily Target ETFT-Rex 1.75X Long Spot Bitcoin Daily Target ETFT-Rex 2X Reverse Spot Bitcoin Daily… Picture .twitter.com/eLFTiS1Gq9
— ETF Hearsay by Henry Jim (@ETFhearsay) January 3, 2024
Direxion's filing shows plans for 1x, 1.5x, and 2x long-leveraged Bitcoin funds and each for short-leveraged funds.
“Rich Bitcoin ETFs may soon be outnumbered,” Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas wrote in a response to a filing posted on Jan. 18. “That certainly never happened. [before]He said.
Leveraged bitcoin ETFs may soon outperform the long term, I'm pretty sure that never happened bf
— Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) January 18, 2024
Related: Spot Bitcoin ETFs In One Week: BTC Sells Off, But ETFs Reap Success
Opinions are divided on the possibility of the SEC approving an Ether ETF.
Balchunas told Cointelegraph earlier this month that he was pinning a 70% chance of approval for spot ether ETFs based on the SEC's deadline for the VanEck fund.
However, Mark Yusko, founder and CEO of Morgan Creek Capital, told Cointelegraph that the SEC is still hostile to crypto despite approving Bitcoin ETFs.
SEC Chairman Gary Gensler added that the regulator may classify ETH as a security if it has previously said it considers it a commodity.
Asia Express: Hong Kong Bitcoin ETF FOMO, Thailand Approves $14B Airdrop
