SEC Delays Decision on BlackRock's Spot Ethereum ETF Application

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has delayed a decision on BlackRock's spot Ethereum exchange-traded fund application.

A Wednesday filing shows that Wall Street's top regulator "finds it appropriate to designate a longer period within which to take action."

BlackRock, the world's biggest fund manager, applied in November for a spot Ethereum (ETH) exchange-traded fund (ETF).

The idea, if approved, is that the investment vehicle would give people exposure to the second-biggest cryptocurrency by market cap, ETH.

BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said in a CNBC interview last week that he sees "value in having an Ethereum ETF," adding that the approval of such funds "are just stepping stones towards tokenization."

BlackRock's spot Bitcoin (BTC) ETF was approved on January 10 and started trading on the next day.

The iShares Bitcoin Trust has been the most successful of all 10 ETFs now trading and has $1.7 billion in assets under management.

Crypto ETFs allow investors to gain exposure to digital assets without the need to buy and store the crypto themselves.

Other high-profile firms such Ark Invest, Fidelity, and Grayscale want to introduce their own ETH ETF.

ETH ETF hype comes after the SEC's approval of spot BTC ETFs after a decade of denying the products.

Senior Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Eric Balchunas has said he is 70% confident that a spot ETH ETF will be approved by May.

Edited by Ryan Ozawa.