SEC postpones decision on BlackRock and Bitwise spot Ethereum ETF options
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission delayed deciding on Nasdaq’s proposed rule change to approve the listing and trading options on BlackRock and Bitwise’s spot Ethereum (ETH) exchange-traded funds (ETFs).
While the decision was initially scheduled for this Thursday, the SEC has now postponed making the ruling to Nov. 10, according to the SEC's Tuesday release.
“The Commission finds it appropriate to designate a longer period within which to take action on the proposed rule change so that it has sufficient time to consider the proposed rule change,” the agency wrote in the release .
According to a separate release, the SEC also postponed a decision on NYSE American’s proposal to list and trade options on Bitwise’s spot Ethereum ETFs, Grayscale Ethereum Trust and the Grayscale Ethereum Mini Trust. The new deadline for the decision is Nov. 11.
Crypto ETF options
The Nasdaq International Securities Exchange filed the IBIT options listing proposal on Aug. 6 to make the Ethereum ETF more accessible to retail and institutional investors in traditional markets.
“The Shares have been designed to remove the obstacles represented by the complexities and operational burdens involved in a direct investment in ether, while at the same time having an intrinsic value that reflects, at any given time, the investment exposure to the ether,” Nasdaq ISE’s proposal said.
The regulator’s postponement came after it approved the listing and trading of options on BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) last week, which Bloomberg's senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas described as a “huge win” for bitcoin ETFs.
According to data from SoSoValue, BlackRock’s ETHA held net assets worth around $977 million as of Wednesday. The fund has accumulated a total net inflow of $1.10 billion, the highest among the nine ether ETFs. However, the nine spot Ethereum ETFs have seen more outflows, registering over $624 million in negative flows since their launch on July 23.
