According to Blockworks, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced on Wednesday that it will designate a longer period within which to take action on the proposed rule change for Grayscale's Ethereum Futures Trust. The filing pushes the deadline to January 1, 2024. The SEC stated that the Commission shall either approve or disapprove, or institute proceedings to determine whether to disapprove, the proposed rule change. This essentially gives the regulatory agency another window to push back a decision.
Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart posted that the delay of the 19b-4 filing was not remotely surprising. Grayscale filed in early October to convert its Ethereum Trust into an ETF. Grayscale CEO Michael Sonnenshein said in a statement at the time that this was an important moment to bring Ethereum even further into the US regulatory perimeter.
In August, Grayscale scored a court win against the SEC after it sought to convert its bitcoin trust (GBTC) to an ETF. The judges did not order the SEC to give Grayscale's proposal a greenlight, but rather ordered the regulatory body to re-examine the application it originally denied. The panel of judges agreed that the original denial, but the allowance of bitcoin futures ETFs was arbitrary and capricious.
Alongside spot bitcoin ETFs, firms are now vying to get spot ether ETFs off the ground. Ark Invest and 21Shares plan to introduce five funds holding both bitcoin futures and ether futures this week. Both filed for the products back in August. In early October, six ETFs holding ether futures launched, with roughly $20 million or so in combined assets under management as of early November. Additionally, ETF watchers are keeping a close eye on the SEC's approach to the spot bitcoin ETFs after big traditional finance firms such as BlackRock threw their hats in the ring. The SEC also postponed decisions on the big ETFs in late September ahead of a potential government shutdown.
