The US Securities and Alternate Fee (SEC) prolonged its assessment of two high-profile proposals for spot Solana (SOL) exchange-traded funds, signaling additional delays within the approval course of for crypto-linked funding merchandise.
The company mentioned it might start a brand new spherical of proceedings to evaluate whether or not the ETF proposals from asset managers Bitwise and 21Shares adjust to key provisions of the Securities Alternate Act.
Particularly, the SEC cited issues associated to market manipulation and investor safety, components it’s obligated to weigh earlier than granting any ETF itemizing.
Extended wait
Bitwise’s utility, filed in January by means of Cboe’s BZX Alternate, and 21Shares’ separate proposal have now every been delayed a minimum of as soon as.
Whereas each companies have expertise providing crypto funding merchandise, 21Shares already manages authorised Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) ETFs. The SEC has but to authorize any fund tied to Solana, a blockchain typically touted as a sooner, lower-cost various to Ethereum.
The regulator mentioned it’s searching for further public enter and analytical time to find out whether or not the proposed rule adjustments would meet its requirements for stopping fraud and guaranteeing investor confidence.
The regulator’s cautious tone means that Solana, regardless of its rising prominence, might face an extended path to ETF approval than its predecessors.
Regulatory inertia
The delay comes amid a broader regulatory bottleneck affecting a number of digital asset ETFs. The regulator has postponed selections on a number of crypto ETFs in latest weeks and months. Nonetheless, optimism stays sturdy out there.
Bloomberg analysts James Seyffart and Eric Balchunas have beforehand said that they anticipate excessive possibilities of approval for many ETF purposes, with the ultimate inexperienced mild anticipated someday within the latter half of the 12 months.
They estimated a 90% chance of eventual approval for each Solana and Litecoin (LTC) ETFs, attributing their optimism to favorable commodity classifications and rising institutional curiosity.
Nevertheless, with remaining selections doubtlessly months away and broader coverage uncertainty lingering, traders could also be pressured to attend till late 2025 for readability on whether or not Solana ETFs will make it to US markets.
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