SEC Delays Decision on Invesco Galaxy's Ethereum Spot ETF Approval
The deadline for SEC to decide on the approval or rejection of Invesco Galaxy's Ethereum spot ETF is set for July 5, 2024.
SEC Delays Approval Schedule for Invesco's Ethereum Spot ETF. Image: Forbes
Expectations for the debut of an Ethereum spot ETF have been diminishing recently. Recently, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) once again postponed its decision regarding Invesco Galaxy's proposed fund.
Screenshot of a portion of SEC's announcement
According to a May 6 announcement, the U.S. securities regulator has rescheduled the approval or dismissal of this application to July 5, 2024. SEC stated the need for additional time to evaluate legal and policy-related issues before reaching a final decision.
Proposals for Ethereum spot ETFs are under SEC consideration. Image: Bloomberg
SEC previously hesitated to make a decision on Invesco's Ethereum spot ETF proposal back in February. At that time, SEC raised concerns regarding Ethereum's Proof-of-Stake mechanism and the concentration of power among a few individuals or entities potentially making the fund susceptible to fraud and manipulation. Invesco was given 21 days to prepare responses and 35 days thereafter to present arguments.
In related developments, SEC has shown similar skepticism towards Ethereum spot ETF proposals from other issuers such as Grayscale, Franklin Templeton, VanEck, Fidelity, and BlackRock.
In contrast to the enthusiastic approval of Bitcoin ETFs previously, U.S. officials have yet to signal any green light for Ethereum spot offerings. Analysts have significantly reduced the probability of such products materializing, from an optimistic 60-70% down to approximately 11%.
Furthermore, SEC has been issuing a series of allegations against the cryptocurrency industry, particularly Ethereum. Since March 2023, SEC has been ambiguously investigating the Ethereum Foundation, implicitly suggesting ETH could be a security. By the end of last month, MetaMask's parent company ConsenSys even filed a lawsuit against SEC, challenging this classification. According to Michael Saylor's assessment, SEC might classify Ethereum as a security, consequently rejecting all remaining spot ETF proposals.
