Ahead of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) decision on the approval of spot Ethereum ETF, Fidelity Investments has made a major shift by updating its filing. In the amended S-1 application, Fidelity dropped ETH staking from its Ethereum ETF filing.
Is Fidelity’s Move Strategic?
In the United States, S-1 filings are the SEC’s required registration form for launching publicly traded securities products. A shift by Fidelity to review its filing with the regulatory body is a result of reports that the U.S. SEC has made a u-turn on spot Ethereum ETF. According to sources, the SEC has asked ETF issuers to update their 19b-4 filings.
With the May 23 deadline looming for VanEck’s Ethereum ETF proposal, there are speculations of political pressure on the SEC. Recently, Eric Balchunas, a known Bloomberg’s Senior ETF analyst, raised the chances of approval from 25% to 75%.
Meanwhile, Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart, in an X post maintained that S-1 approvals are required and this may take weeks or even months before an Ethereum ETF becomes live. However, if the approval is granted by the SEC, then the implication is that S-1 approvals are a question of “When’ rather than If’…”
Analysts believe the amended filing by Fidelity could be a strategic move depending on the SEC’s decision later this week.
Stakeholders’ Reaction to Spot Ethereum ETF Prospect
Prior to Fidelity’s move, Grayscale Investments earlier in the month withdrew the 19b-4 for its Ethereum Futures ETF. There were different speculations by analysts as to possible reasons for the withdrawal. Various stakeholders after critical observation of the SEC’s “body language” also reversed their earlier positive stance.
Geoffrey Kendrick, the Head of Forex and Digital Assets Research for Standard Chartered shared a premise on the reversal on the communication flow between the regulator, the applicant, and other critical stakeholders.
Although opinions differ as to the possibility of the spot Ethereum ETF approval, the final decision rests squarely on the shoulders of the 5-man commissioners in the SEC.
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