The U.S. securities regulator on Monday asked Nasdaq, CBOE and NYSE to fine-tune their applications to list spot ether exchange-traded-funds (ETFs), signaling the agency may be poised to approve the filings, multiple people familiar with the process told Reuters. Securities and Exchange Commission officials asked the exchanges to submit their revisions by the end of Tuesday, two of those sources said. While the exchange applications are the first step in a two-step approval process, a green light from the SEC would mark a major, and surprising, win for the cryptocurrency industry, which had been expecting a thumbs-down.
The price of ether jumped as much as 18% Monday and was up another 8.6% at $3,802 late Tuesday morning before retreating slightly to hover at around $3,747 Tuesday afternoon. The SEC must decide whether to approve applications filed by CBOE to list ether ETFs provided by VanEck and ARK Investments/21Shares by the end of this week. The SEC had not engaged with exchanges and issuers on the filing details, leading industry executives to expect it would reject them. But in a surprise move, SEC officials on Monday asked Nasdaq, CBOE and NYSE to quickly make updates and changes to the filings, requests which usually precede approval, said the people familiar with the process, who declined to be identified discussing private regulatory matters.
Source: Reuters