The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has recently extended the review period for cryptocurrency ETF applications, including products for XRP, Solana (SOL), Litecoin (LTC), and Dogecoin (DOGE).
New Deadlines for Cryptocurrency ETF Decisions
In filings dated March 11, the SEC indicated it requires additional time to evaluate the proposed rule changes necessary for these ETFs to proceed. Therefore, the deadlines for decisions on applications such as Grayscale's XRP ETF and Cboe BZX Exchange's spot Solana ETF have been extended to May.
Analysts' Comments on Delays
Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart commented that such delays are standard procedure and do not necessarily impact the likelihood of eventual approval. He noted that the final deadlines for these ETF decisions are not until October.
Impact of SEC Leadership Transition
This postponement occurs at a time when the SEC is going through a leadership change. Gary Gensler's departure was seen earlier, while Paul Atkins remains unconfirmed for the chair position by Congress. This current uncertainty within SEC leadership seems to affect the timing of ETF approvals.
Thus, despite strong market interest in cryptocurrency investments, the uncertainty within SEC leadership has delayed decisions on ETFs, with investor safety and market stability remaining the commission’s priorities.
