Spot ether ETF applications from Fidelity and BlackRock were postponed by the SEC. Although some applications have a final deadline of May 23, a Bloomberg analyst expressed confidence if applicants begin amending their paperwork by April.
On Monday, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) launched comment periods for both BlackRock and Fidelity's ether {{ETH}} exchange-traded fund applications, delaying any conclusion on the matter.
The SEC has polled the public for their thoughts on whether or not they share the view of Fidelity, BlackRock, Cboe, and Nasdaq that the case for Ethereum's ether ETFs is similar to that of the spot bitcoin ETFs that were just approved. Feedback on the potential manipulation of spot ether ETFs and the similarity or difference between futures ether and spot ether exchange-traded products is also sought after by the regulator.
According to Bloomberg Intelligence analyst James Seyffart, the date to keep an eye on is May 23, but further delays are likely in the coming weeks as well. By then, the SEC ought to have reached a final conclusion regarding the petitions. On the other hand, additional indicators may show the SEC's perspective on these petitions in the coming month or two.
According to him, there should be more optimism if applicants begin to submit updated material that indicates they are absorbing input directly from the regulator. This would mirror the back-and-forth that occurred in the weeks leading up to the approval of bitcoin ETFs in January.
While issuers have submitted revisions in recent weeks, it appears that most of them are more in line with what was learnt during the bitcoin ETF application process than with any particular instructions or comments provided by the SEC.
In the past 30 days, we have seen a couple of modifications. In my opinion, most of the revisions that have been made by the various issuers have consisted of updating their Ethereum filings using the knowledge they gained from the bitcoin ETF process.
According to him, "nothing specific to ETH" has been altered. "We haven't seen anything that's relevant specifically to an update that indicates to us for sure that the SEC is talking to any of these guys about a theory, but they are notoriously close-lipped and not supposed to talk to anyone."
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