Attention Turns To VanEck As SEC Delays Invesco-Galaxy Ether ETF Decision

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has delayed making a decision on a Spot Ethereum (ETH) exchange-traded fund (ETF) jointly proposed by Invesco and Galaxy Digital, a 6 February filing shows.

The highly anticipated ETF would mean that potential investors can directly access exposure to Spot Ether.

At the moment, investors in the US interested in Ethereum are mostly limited to ETH futures listed on CME as a point of entry.

The document shows that the SEC has invited public input on the spot products, in particular the Invesco Galaxy Ethereum ETF, with a 35-day extended deadline given.

According to the filing, the SEC has stated: "The Commission requests that interested persons provide written submissions of their views, data, and arguments with respect to the issues identified above, as well as any other concerns they may have with the proposal.”

VanEck deadline

James Seyffart, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst, has since tweeted that the delay is "100% expected and more delays will continue to happen in coming months". 

He added: "The only date that matters for spot #ethereum ETFs at this time is May 23rd. Which is @vaneck_us's final deadline date."

Last month, the SEC also delayed an Grayscale Investments application to turn its Ethereum trust product (ETHE) into an ETF. BlackRock has also had its application for an ETH ETF put on hold. 

According to a January report by Standard Chartered, ETH could possibly reach a 68% increase from its current price and hit $4,000 by May if the ETF applications get final approval.

The bank further added: "Heading into the expected approval date on May 23, we expect ETH prices to track, or outperform, bitcoin (BTC) during the comparable period." 

ETH price

At the time of writing, the price of Ethereum is trading at $2,371.10, up 2.13% in the past day, according to CoinMarketCap.