- The US SEC has delayed applications for ETFs tracking XRP, Solana and Dogecoin, requesting public comment on whether the proposals meet regulatory standards.
- Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart considers these delays normal, expecting decisions most likely in the fourth quarter of 2025 as the SEC works through regulatory details.
- Despite the delays, XRP received a vote of confidence with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange launching XRP Futures and Micro XRP Futures contracts on Monday, allowing traders to bet on price movements.
- Regulated futures markets are significant catalysts for spot ETF approvals, as evidenced by the DC Circuit Court ruling against the SEC’s rejection of Grayscale’s Bitcoin trust conversion, which led to Bitcoin ETF approvals.
Despite a change in leadership at the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the approval of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for altcoins is stalling.
Several applications for popular coins – XRP, Solana (SOL) and king of memecoins, Dogecoin (DOGE) – have been delayed.
The Commission postponed an application by 21Shares and Grayscale, which would track the price of XRP and a Grayscale ETF for DOGE; earlier in the week the SEC also extended deadlines for Solana ETF applications by VanEck, 21Shares, Bitwise and Canary Capital.
In a filing from 19 May, the regulator said it would “institute proceedings” as it needs more time to assess whether the funds meet regulatory standards.
While assuring markets that no decision has been made, the SEC is looking for public comment on whether the proposal “is designed to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices or raises any new or novel concerns not previously contemplated by the Commission” under Section 6(b)(5) of the Exchange Act.
Related: Singapore Dollar Stablecoin XSGD Debuts on XRP Ledger in Ripple-Powered Payments Push
Not Unusual to See Delays, Says ETF Expert
Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart said the delay is not unusual and he expects results would be most likely in the fourth quarter of 2025.
He also said that approval of staking in the Ethereum ETFs is unlikely to happen anytime soon.
So, why is the now crypto-friendly SEC still delaying these applications? Seyffart says it’s because it “[t]akes time to do things” and the agency doesn’t only have crypto to deal with:
[It’s] still a government agency and still a lot of minutiae details to get through. Also crypto isn’t the only thing they’re working on.
James Seyffart, Bloomberg ETF analystHe added that it’s actually normal for the SEC to take the “full time to decide these things”, and an early decision would be “out of the norm”.
While it’s not clear what the demand is for altcoin ETFs, early signs point to some investor appetite for these products.
XRP Futures Could Boost ETF Odds
XRP, for example, just received a subtle vote of confidence with the Chicago Mercantile Exchange launching XRP Futures and Micro XRP Futures on Monday. These new contracts let traders bet on XRP’s price movements without owning the token itself, unlike spot ETFs, which require backing by the actual asset.
Related: Tax and Legal Experts Urge Caution Despite Court’s Bitcoin-as-Cash Ruling
CME’s Global Head of Cryptocurrency Products, Giovanni Vicioso, noted that “Interest in XRP has steadily increased”, adding that traders and investors increasingly show interest in “regulated derivatives products across a wider range of tokens”.
Futures markets are a key catalyst on the path to spot ETFs – in 2023 a US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit ruled that the SEC had “arbitrarily and capriciously” rejected Grayscale’s conversion of its Bitcoin trust into spot ETFs.
This was, as then-Chair Gary Gensler said, the main reason for spot Bitcoin ETF approvals.
Credit: Source link
