The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has delayed its decision on a series of proposed spot exchange-traded funds tied to various cryptocurrencies, including Litecoin, Solana, XRP, and Dogecoin.
The postponements affect applications from firms including Canary, VanEck, 21Shares, Bitwise, and Grayscale Investments, which had sought to introduce ETFs tracking the price of various cryptocurrencies.
The agency’s actions, which follow the initial acknowledgment of the required Form 19b-4 filings, fall within the established regulatory timeline, allowing for multiple extensions of the review period. The SEC’s process permits an initial 45-day review, which can be extended by an additional 45 days and further extended by subsequent review periods of 45 and 60 days before a final decision is made.
James Seyffart, a Bloomberg analyst, characterized the delays as “expected,” noting that they align with standard procedure, especially considering that the regulator is currently being run by acting Chair Mark Uyeda.
Yes, the SEC just punted on a bunch of alt coin ETF filings including Litecoin, Solana, XRP & DOGE. It’s expected as this is standard procedure & Atkins hasn’t even been confirmed yet. This doesn’t change our (relatively high) odds of approval. Also note that the final deadlines…
— James Seyffart (@JSeyff) March 11, 2025
SEC’s Decision Delays Encompass In-Kind Redemptions
The U.S. regulator has also delayed its decisions on applications related to in-kind creation and redemptions for the iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF and the Fidelity Wise Origin Bitcoin Fund.
In-kind redemption would allow investors in these funds to redeem their shares for the underlying, the flagship cryptocurrency bitcoin, which could help demand for the cryptocurrency keep growing.
Despite the delays, the regulator has been taming its approach to the cryptocurrency space under Uyeda, having recently dropped numerous lawsuits and investigations against firms in the sector, including exchanges Coinbase and Kraken.
Other cases the regulator has recently dropped include those against Consensys over its wallet application MetaMask and against the organization behind leading decentralized exchange Uniswap, Uniswap Labs.
