Ethereum spot ETF becomes SEC’s next delay victim

Posted: September 28, 2023

• The deadline for the ETF decision has been postponed to 26 December.
• ETH futures products could be approved soon as the blockchain’s revenue hits $10 billion.

One day after delaying its Bitcoin [BTC] spot decision, the U.S. SEC has confirmed that similar Ethereum [ETH] applications have suffered the same fate. In its 27 September communiqué, the SEC noted that the application by 21Shares and Cathie Wood-led ARK Invest now has a new designated deadline of 26 December. 

Realistic or not, here’s ETH’s market cap in BTC terms

No to spot. Yes to futures?

The commission quoted section 19(b) of the 1934  Securities Act to support its decision. According to the SEC, the act allows the agency to postpone resolutions like the Ethereum spot ETF for 45 to 90 days. The statement read, 

“Accordingly, the Commission, pursuant to Section 19(b)(2) of the Act, 5 designates December 26, 2023, as the date by which the Commission shall either approve or disapprove or institute proceedings to determine whether to disapprove, the proposed rule change.”

The decision may come as a surprise to market players. This is because some members of the U.S. Congress had asked SEC Chair Gary Gensler to approve the Bitcoin spot ETF immediately, which of course the commission declined.

But quizzing Gensler on 27 September, market participants hoped the commission would have been lenient on Ethereum. Unfortunately, that was not the case.

Despite the disappointment per the SEC decision, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst James Seyffart noted that the regulator could allow the launch of several Ethereum futures ETFs next week.

Seyffart’s post on X (formerly Twitter) reinforced the opinion of his fellow analyst Eric Balchuna.

Balchuna said that the SEC could fast-track the Ethereum futures product to compensate for its spot ETF delay.

Looking like the SEC is gonna let a bunch #Ethereum futures ETFs go next week potentially https://t.co/YoBD1d1ay8

— James Seyffart (@JSeyff) September 28, 2023

ETH needs a decision— fast!

Meanwhile, ETH could be in need of a quick decision if not for anything, but for its price action. 

According to Caleb & Brown’s weekly rollup, ETH showed less resilience when the Fed announced the outcome of its policy meeting on 19 September.

Source: Caleb & Brown

On that fateful day, ETH lost 1.3%, and the ETH/BTC ratio fell to a 14-month low of 0.0594. Furthermore, ETH also experienced a lot of selling pressure inclusive of Ethereum’s co-founder Vitalik Buterin.

So, there’s a chance that the coin price could decrease further in the coming days. On the positive side, Ethereum’s revenue surpassed the $10 billion mark. For the uninformed, Ethereum generates revenue from transaction fees and base fees.

Source: Caleb & Brown

Read Ethereum’s [ETH] Price Prediction 2023-2024

This is because the blockchain also provides decentralized computing for token exchanges, and through the sale of block space. Caleb & Brown confirmed that it took the project seven years to achieve the milestone noting that,

“Since 2015, Ethereum has generated US$16.8 billion in fees with over 60.0% of this converting into revenue. This places it shoulder-to-shoulder with the likes of Alphabet and Meta.”