Author: Nancy, PANews
Shortly after Gary Gensler's departure, the US SEC has shown a more friendly attitude towards cryptocurrencies under the new government leadership, with its new cryptocurrency working group even stating that it will clarify the rules for approving cryptocurrency ETFs. In recent times, more and more institutions have joined the queue to apply for cryptocurrency ETFs, with the spot ETF applications for SOL, LTC and XRP making significant new progress.
According to PANews statistics, SOL and LTC spot ETF applications have the most issuers, with 5 issuers participating in each. In terms of progress, major institutions have submitted 19b-4 filings for SOL, LTC and XRP, but only Grayscale's Solana ETF and Litecoin Trust, and Canary's Litecoin ETF applications have been accepted for review by the SEC. According to the rules, the SEC will typically publish the 19b-4 filing in the Federal Register and initiate a 21-day public comment period after accepting it. Thereafter, the SEC will go through multiple extensions, reviews, and ultimately make an approval or rejection decision, with a maximum timeline of 240 days, with key response dates at 45 days, 45 days, 90 days and 60 days.
SOL Spot ETF: 5 institutions participating in the application, Grayscale's has been accepted by the SEC
Currently, five issuers have submitted spot Solana (SOL) ETF applications, including Grayscale, Bitwise, VanEck, 21Shares and Canary Capital. Unlike the other institutions, Grayscale is converting its Solana trust fund into a spot ETF.
Although these institutions submitted their SOL spot ETF application documents last year, many were rejected by the US SEC. On January 29th, the Cboe BZX exchange resubmitted the 19b-4 filing for the spot Solana ETF on behalf of Bitwise, VanEck and others. In terms of the approval timeline, the SEC's next approval dates are March 30th and April 3rd.
Notably, the SEC seems to have "loosened up" a bit, with the latest news showing that the agency has accepted Grayscale's 19b-4 application for a Solana ETF.
In this regard, Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart said this could be a positive signal for anyone facing SEC litigation (or any exchange) where the SEC has openly stated that Solana is a security...
Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas also said this is noteworthy news. This is the first time the SEC has acknowledged an ETF application tracking a token previously deemed a "security". Just six weeks ago, the SEC led by Gensler had asked CBOE to withdraw its Solana 19b-4 application. So we are now entering a new territory, and while this is just a small step, it seems to be a direct result of the change in leadership.
XRP Spot ETF: 5 institutions have applied, all have submitted 19b-4 filings
To date, Grayscale, Bitwise, Canary Capital, 21Shares and Wisdomtree have applied for XRP spot ETFs. Among them, Grayscale submitted a 19b-4 filing on January 30th to convert its XRP trust into a spot cryptocurrency ETF, while the Cboe BZX exchange filed 19b-4 filings on February 6th on behalf of Bitwise, 21Shares and Canary Capital to list and trade a spot XRP ETF. Once confirmed by the SEC, the application will be published in the Federal Register, initiating the regulatory review process.
LTC Spot ETF: Grayscale and Canary's applications have been accepted by the SEC
Currently, only Grayscale and Canary Capital have submitted LTC spot ETF applications. According to the filings, Canary Capital and Grayscale submitted their 19b-4 applications for a Litecoin ETF on January 16th and January 24th respectively. The SEC has also accepted the Litecoin ETF applications from these two institutions, and they are now in the 21-day public comment window, but the SEC may decide to approve, reject or "initiate proceedings".
Eric Balchunas latest stated that he still believes Litecoin will be the next cryptocurrency spot ETF approved by the SEC.
In addition to SOL, XRP and LTC, multiple other crypto assets have also joined the spot ETF approval battle. For example, in January, Rex applied for Trump ETF, BONK ETF and other applications; in February, the New York Stock Exchange Arca submitted a 19b-4 form for a spot Dogecoin ETF to the SEC; 21Shares submitted an S-1 registration application for a spot Polkadot ETF to the SEC.
