SEC Punts on BlackRock Ethereum ETF Staking, Franklin XRP and Solana Fund Decisions

The U.S. Security and Exchange Commission has delayed its decisions on the addition of staking to BlackRock’s iShares spot Ethereum exchange-traded fund, and on Franklin Templeton proposals for separate funds tracking the performance of Solana and XRP, according to filings the agency submitted Wednesday.

The SEC extended its deadline for addressing a rule change request by the Nasdaq exchange for staking in the iShares Ethereum Trust (ETHA) to October 30, a 45-day postponement from its original schedule.

It also pushed back its decision on 19b-4 rule change filings by Cboe that would allow the listing of the Franklin Templeton Solana ETF and Franklin Templeton XRP ETF to November 14, a 60-day deferral.

The latest filings follow a slew of SEC delays in recent weeks on proposals for altcoin funds. On Tuesday, the regulator put off ruling on Nasdaq’s bid to list the Grayscale Hedera Trust to November 12, also 60 days.

Last month, the SEC also held up resolving a request to add staking to the the 21Shares Core Ethereum ETF, which tracks the price of the second-largest cryptocurrency by market value.

At that time, it also moved back its decision on an application by Donald Trump’s media and technology company by 45 days to Oct. 8 for a Truth Social Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF that would track the two largest cryptocurrencies by market value.

And it announced identical delays for applications filed for spot XRP funds by Grayscale, CoinShares, Canary Capital, Bitwise, and 21Shares, a spot Dogecoin ETF from Grayscale, and a spot Litecoin product from CoinShares. The dates for potential approvals of those funds vary.

Those announcements followed delayed decisions on Solana ETFs from Bitwise, 21Shares, and VanEck, and a Dogecoin fund from 21Shares. Before August ended, the SEC was weighing 90 crypto ETF applications, which spanned a range of assets.

Bloomberg Senior ETF Analyst Eric Balchunas told Decrypt that the latest delays were consistent with the regulator’s recent approach, likely timing approvals of proposed altcoin ETFs and Ethereum staking after likely green-lighting proposals filed in July by Cboe and NYSE.

Those exchanges asked the SEC to approve amendments that could significantly shorten the approval process for future crypto exchange-traded funds, automatically listing certain products without requiring case-by-case filings.

In separate filings, the exchanges requested changes to their listing standards that would allow certain crypto ETFs to be listed without enduring the SEC’s rigorous evaluation, a process that requires exchanges to submit proposed rule changes. Under current guidelines, reviews of proposed changes to funds could take 240 days.

“They’ve been punting and punting […] and we expect them to keep putting everything off until the generic listing standards are done,” Balchunas said. “That is what we think will happen, probably in early October. After that, we expect a flood of ETFs probably in a couple months.”

He added: “We expect ETH staking to be part of it. This SEC showed every sign of being interested in working with the issuers and solving problems.”

Bloomberg analysts have predicted a more than 95% probability of Solana and XRP ETFs receiving approval this year. Balchunas described the odds on staking as “pretty high,” as well.

“We think they’ll allow that, too,” he said.