US SEC delays another crypto ETF, but financial institutions are not giving up
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The US Securities and Exchange Commission has announced another crypto ETF delay, this time the Hashdex Nasdaq Ethereum ETF. The move further reduces the possibility of getting approval for any regulated crypto derivative.
US SEC announces another ETF delay
The proposed Hashdex Nasdaq Ethereum ETF intends to include both spot Ether and ETH-based futures contracts. However, the regulator stated that it requires additional time to assess the proposed rule changes thoroughly, and consider related concerns.
With that said, the SEC said that it would not make the decision regarding the ETF — whether approval, disapproval, or initiating proceedings — before January 1, 2024. Furthermore, the SEC also delayed a decision on converting an application for a Hashdex Bitcoin futures ETF.
The Hashdex Nasdaq Ethereum ETF was initially filed two months ago, in September. While the ETF application was filed by Nasdaq, it was managed by Toroso Investments.
As for Hashdex itself, it is a crypto asset manager headquartered in Brazil, and in the past, the company has rolled out a physically backed ETP that tracks the performance of several cryptocurrencies. Those include Bitcoin, Avalanche, Cardano, Ether, Polkadot, Litecoin, Solana, and Polygon. The ETP is active even now, listed on Switzerland’s Zurich-based SIX Swiss Exchange. It allows investors to get exposure on Nasdaq’s Crypto Index Europe.
This offering was physically backed by the mentioned crypto assets, as well as staked coins, which are stored with a secure custodian.
Hashdex is a reputable firm that has over 250,000 investors, both private and institutional, who use the company’s products around the world. It also holds almost $1 billion in assets under management. At this time, the company has more than 90 team members who are experts in the financial and technology worlds and who operate from Zurich, New York, and also Rio de Janeiro.
WisdomTree refiles amended Bitcoin spot ETF
Despite the SEC’s decisions to delay ETFs, first Bitcoin and now also Ethereum-based, companies that seek regulatory approval are not giving up, nor are they discouraged when they get rejected.
The most recent example of this comes from a global ETF provider called WisdomTree, which recently submitted an amended Form S-1 spot Bitcoin ETF prospectus to the regulator.
The company filed the amended document on November 16, in what is essentially a refiling of its spot Bitcoin ETF application from June of this year. The update suggests that the ETF, if approved, would have Coinbase Custody Trust as its custodian, meaning that this is the company that will hold the trust’s Bitcoins.
