The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has decided to delay its decision on whether to approve the Hashdex Nasdaq Ethereum exchange-traded fund (ETF). The ETF, if authorized, will hold ether spot and futures contracts. The SEC has extended the deadline for its decision to May 30, 2024, as stated in a notice released on Tuesday.
The Nasdaq stock exchange submitted an application to launch the Hashdex Nasdaq Ethereum ETF in September. The fund is managed and controlled by Toroso Investments, a member of the National Futures Association and a licensed commodity pool operator with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The SEC has requested public feedback on the ETF in December and has repeatedly postponed making a judgment.
In addition to the Hashdex ETF, the SEC has also postponed its judgment on the ARK 21Shares Ethereum ETF, which would track the performance of ether. The deadline for this decision has been extended to May 24, 2024. The SEC is also seeking public feedback on this ETF application.
Well-known organizations such as Fidelity and BlackRock have recently filed for a spot Ethereum ETF. However, the likelihood of the SEC approving such a product has been diminishing in recent weeks. Bloomberg ETF analyst, Eric Balchunas, has revised his prediction for the chances of a spot Ethereum ETF approval by May from 70% to 30%.
In other crypto news today, Coinbase CEO has announced plans to upgrade the platform’s infrastructure following recent outages.