The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) delayed decisions on nine crypto exchange-traded fund (ETF) applications on Aug. 18.
Except for Truth’s filing, the delayed products all have final deadlines for October.
Seyffart stated that this “might be the SEC’s way of stalling these things from becoming ETFs before they develop a digital assets ETF framework.”
He added that the framework would create “some sort of generic listing standard for what digital assets are allowed in an ETF wrapper and what criteria they’ll use.”
The SEC has been reportedly collaborating with US exchanges since July on generic listing standards for token-based ETFs that would eliminate individual rule-change requests.
The proposed system would allow ETF sponsors to bypass the customary Form 19b-4 process when underlying tokens meet predetermined criteria.
Under the proposed framework, sponsors would submit registration statements on Form S-1, observe standard 75-day review periods, and list products once waiting periods conclude.
Market capitalization, on-exchange trading volume, and daily liquidity rank among the metrics under discussion.
Seyffart called the generic standard approach “very good news for the crypto ETF space,” arguing it would offer “clear rules of the road.”
Balchunas described the concept as “what everyone wants, what makes sense, and what we think will happen.”
As a result, the first altcoin-related ETF approvals might likely start only in October.
