SEC Pushes Back Decision on Grayscale Ether Futures ETF

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has once again extended the deadline to decide on the approval of digital asset management firm Grayscale Ethereum (ETH) Futures Trust Exchange Traded Fund (ETF).

In a filing published on March 22, the SEC said it will move the March 31 deadline to May 30 to decide whether to approve the Grayscale Ethereum Futures Trust ETF, which focuses on investing in Ethereum futures contracts.

“The Commission finds it appropriate to set an extended period within which to issue an order to change or challenge the proposed rule to allow sufficient time to consider the proposed rule and the issues raised.”

In December 2023, the SEC postponed the approval date for Greyscale's futures ETF product, saying it would require more public input before listing the ETF.

Related: SEC Is Trying to Classify Ether as a Security: Report

This comes three months after Grayscale filed to list and trade shares of the Greyscale Ethereum Futures Trust ETF in September 2023 under New York Stock Exchange Arca Rule 8.200-E.

Following the listing, Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seifert said Grayscale is using the futures ETF app as a “Trojan horse” to influence the SEC's approval of the Ether ETF.

He explained that if the SEC approves Greyscale's application, Greyscale will allow Spot Ether ETF to challenge the application for approval.

Meanwhile, on January 25, the SEC delayed its decision on approving the Spot Ether ETF from the grayscale, and also opened the application for public comments.

Following the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs on January 10th, doubts have increased among crypto industry analysts as to whether the SEC will take a tougher stance on crypto-based ETFs.

Cointelegraph recently reported that Capital founder John Lo expects the SEC to further investigate all upcoming crypto-based ETFs, especially Ether ETFs:

“Scrutiny of cryptocurrency ETFs has only increased because they can argue to some extent that the SEC was forced to approve Bitcoin ETFs because of the Grayscale case. No doubt, the SEC internally sees that as a big loss for themselves.”

Other asset management firms are also experiencing setbacks with Ethereum ETFs.

In separate March 4 filings, the SEC announced it would delay a decision on applications from BlackRock for the iShares Ethereum Trust and Fidelity for the Ethereum Fund.

Magazine: SEC radio silence on Ethereum ETF ‘not a good sign' – Bloomberg analyst