The US Securities and Exchange Commission has delayed a decision on BlackRock's application for an Ethereum exchange-traded fund.
The top Wall Street regulator “considers it appropriate to set a longer timeframe for action,” according to a Wednesday filing.
BlackRock, the world's largest fund manager, filed for a spot Ethereum (ETH) exchange-traded fund (ETF) in November.
The idea is that, if approved, the investment vehicle will give people exposure to the second largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, ETH.
BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said in a CNBC interview last week that “there is value in having an Ethereum ETF,” adding that the approval of such funds “is only at the token level.”
The BlackRock Spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETF was approved on January 10 and began trading the next day.
The iShares Bitcoin Trust is the most successful of the 10 ETFs currently trading, with $1.7 billion in assets under management.
Crypto ETFs allow investors to gain exposure to digital assets without having to buy and store crypto themselves.
Other high-profile companies like Ark Invest, Fidelity and Grayscale are looking to introduce their own ETH ETFs.
The ETH ETF boost comes after the SEC rejected the spot BTC ETFs products after a decade.
Senior Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Eric Balchunas said he is 70% certain the spot ETH ETF will be approved in May.
Edited by Ryan Ozawa.
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