SEC Delays Decision on Invesco's Ethereum Spot ETF Proposal

Not just Invesco, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has postponed the decision on Ethereum Spot ETF proposals from other Wall Street giants since last December.

SEC Delays Decision on Invesco's Ethereum Spot ETF Proposal. Image: Blockworks

In an announcement early on February 7, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) decided to delay the decision to approve or reject the Ethereum Spot ETF proposal by global investment management firm Invesco.

The SEC cited the need for additional time to assess legal and policy-related issues before reaching a final consensus. As a result, the new deadline has been extended to May 6, with the final decision deadline set for July 5, 2024.

In the same announcement, the SEC posed questions to Invesco similar to those posed to Grayscale, concerning whether Ethereum's Proof-of-Stake mechanism and the concentration of power among a few individuals or entities could make the fund susceptible to fraud and manipulation. Invesco has 21 days to prepare answers and rebuttals within the subsequent 35 days.

Since late last year, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has pushed back approval deadlines for Ethereum Spot ETF proposals from Grayscale, Fidelity, and BlackRock. It remains unclear whether the SEC will approve any Ethereum Spot ETFs.

TD Cowen Investment Bank forecasts the potential emergence of an Ethereum Spot ETF portfolio exchange product by late 2025, while most experts believe the SEC will issue a ruling by May 23.

ETF analyst James Seyffart of Bloomberg predicts that the market will continue to witness further SEC rescheduling of Ethereum ETF reviews until the final deadline.

Furthermore, in recent statements, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler has reiterated that the commission currently only accepts ETFs for Bitcoin, as it has been demonstrated not to be a security, whereas other cryptocurrencies do not meet these criteria.