SEC asks updated spot Ethereum ETF filings from US exchanges: Report

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reportedly asked exchanges that would list spot Ethereum (ETH) exchange-traded funds (ETF) in the US to update their filings, said Joseph Edwards, head of research at Enigma Securities, to Reuters.

“Opposing the ETH ETF after the BTC one was approved always seemed like an odd case for the SEC to try to push, unless they were willing to open up questions on Ethereum’s securities status more broadly, and it’s likely that the call has come in somewhere to not take that fight,” added Edwards.

To Reuters, an SEC spokesperson said they did not comment on individual filings.

On May 20, Bloomberg ETF analysts Eric Balchunas and James Seyffart raised the odds of a spot Ethereum ETF approval from 25% to 75%, mentioning that the US regulator is motivated by “political issues.”

This development was enough to raise ETH’s price by 22.5% in the last 24 hours and also propelled the crypto market as a whole.

The SEC has two decisions on spot Ethereum ETFs this week related to filings from VanEck and ARK Investment Management. As it happened with spot Bitcoin ETFs in the US, analysts expect a blanket approval, which means that if the regulator gives the green light, all spot Ethereum ETFs will have permission to be traded in the country.

Close to an all-time high

Bitcoin raised 96% within two months before its first spot ETF approval in the US and registered different all-time highs in the two following months after the SEC permitted this investment product trading.

At the time of writing, Ethereum is 23% away from its all-time high of $4,878.26, according to data aggregator DefiLlama. If a similar move ensues, ETH might hit a new price peak at the beginning of Q3.

However, due to the market expectations around the Ethereum ETF, a refusal from the SEC might have a significantly negative impact on the crypto market.