Simply put
- The SEC has extended the staking deadline for the BlackRock Islands Ethereum Trust, now due by October 30th—about 45 days later than originally planned.
- Additionally, decisions on the Franklin Templeton XRP and Solana Fund have been postponed to November 14th, a 60-day delay.
- Recently, the SEC has been delaying decisions regarding several spot Altcoin funds and requests to modify rules related to staking for the current Ethereum ETF.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has deferred its decision on incorporating staking into BlackRock’s iShares Spot Ethereum Exchange Trading Fund, as well as Franklin Templeton’s fund tracking the performance of Solana and XRP, as reported in an agency filing on Wednesday.
On the matter of rule changes requested by NASDAQ, the deadline for the iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA) is now extended to October 30th, a 45-day delay from the original timeline.
The SEC also postponed the CBOE’s review of the 19B-4 rule change filing regarding the Franklin Templeton Solana and XRP ETFs until November 14th, adding 60 days to the process.
This recent announcement comes amid a pattern of repeated delays from the SEC concerning Altcoin fund proposals. Just earlier this week, the regulators pushed back the decision on NASDAQ’s attempt to list the Grayscale Hedera Trust by 60 days, now set for November 12th.
Last month, the SEC also addressed a request to include staking in the 21Shares Core Ethereum ETF, which mirrors the price movement of the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap.
At that time, the agency processed decisions regarding other applications, notably, a request from Donald Trump’s media and technology companies related to bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs aimed at tracking these major cryptocurrencies.
Delays were also noted for applications submitted to a Spot XRP Fund, covering a variety of firms, including Grayscale and Bitwise, among others. Approval timelines for these proposals vary considerably.
These announcements follow other postponements involving Bitwise and 21Shares, with VanEck also delaying decisions on their Dogecoin Fund. By the end of August, the SEC was reviewing around 90 crypto ETF applications across different assets.
According to Eric Balchunas, a senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg, the current delays align with the SEC’s recent tendencies, possibly related to Ethereum staking and after the approval of Altcoin ETF proposals submitted back in July by Cboe and the NYSE.
These exchanges have sought SEC approval for amendments that could streamline the listing process for funds trading on future crypto exchanges, potentially allowing for automatic listings of certain products.
In distinct submissions, requests were made to update listing criteria, enabling specific crypto ETFs to be listed without undergoing exhaustive SEC evaluations. As it stands, changing a fund is subject to a review period that might extend up to 240 days.
“They’ve just been delaying,” Balchunas noted. “We anticipate further postponements until broader listing guidelines are established, which might occur early in October. Fingers crossed for a wave of ETFs soon after that.”
He emphasized his positive expectations regarding ETH staking becoming part of the landscape as the SEC showed interest in collaborating with issuers to address these matters.
Bloomberg analysts suggest there’s a strong chance—over 95%—that Solana and XRP ETFs could receive approval this year, with Balchunas remarking that prospects for staking are “very high.”
“I think they’ll greenlight that too,” he added.
