On the 19th, the SEC (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) announced that it would postpone its decision on Grayscale's Ethereum (ETH) futures ETF and Hashdex's Ethereum futures and spot ETFs until next year. The SEC had previously postponed the review period for the two companies on the 15th of last month.
Regarding the applications of both companies, the SEC is seeking extensive public comment on whether Ethereum's unique features, such as its consensus algorithm, PoS (Proof of Stake), are vulnerable to market manipulation and fraud, and whether each ETF has taken measures to mitigate these risks.
In particular, the SEC pointed out the impact that Grayscale's Ethereum Future Trust, an Ethereum futures ETF, would have if a competitor began offering the product.
Hashdex's Ethereum ETF is a hybrid ETF of spot and futures. The SEC raised issues about the liquidity of the product, futures-based spot pricing, and the correlation between the spot and futures markets. The SEC is quite cautious about hybrid futures and spot ETFs.
In October, the SEC approved Ethereum futures ETFs applied for by nine companies. It was thought that Grayscale's Ethereum futures ETF would be approved soon, but the SEC seems to have decided that there is a problem with the product's structure.
However, there have been no cases of Ethereum spot ETFs being approved yet. This is the same measure as the Bitcoin spot ETF, and the SEC continues to be cautious about approving cryptocurrency spot ETFs.
Reference:Announcement
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