The application for a spot Ether (ETH) exchange-traded fund (ETF) from Franklin Templeton has been postponed by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In a notice on April 23, the SEC announced that it would take more time to approve or disapprove the proposed rule change that would allow the Cboe BZX Exchange to list and trade shares of the Franklin Ethereum Trust. The SEC now has until June 11 to reconsider its decision on the spot ETH ETF, extending the review period by 45 days.
There has been speculation among analysts that the SEC will make a final decision on whether to approve or reject a spot Ether ETF for listing and trading on U.S. exchanges in May, as several asset managers have upcoming application deadlines. In March, Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart suggested that the current round of Ether ETF applications will likely be denied.
In January, the SEC made a landmark decision to allow U.S. exchanges to list and trade shares of spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETFs. This decision is expected to have an ongoing impact on how financial institutions handle cryptocurrencies. While there were initial predictions that the SEC would also approve a spot ETH ETF, reports have indicated that it may be trying to classify Ether as a security.
Franklin Templeton’s spot BTC ETF was among the first to be approved by the SEC. As of December 2020, the firm reported that it managed over $1.5 trillion in assets.
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