In a recent development regarding exchange-traded funds (ETFs) based on Ethereum on sight, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requested public comments related to changes that were made to the proposed Ethereum ETF of the asset manager BlackRock, de according to information published by The Block.
The request made by the regulator was disclosed in a document presented on April 23. “The Commission is publishing this notice to solicit comments on the proposed rule change, as modified by Amendment No. 1, from interested persons,” the SEC highlighted. On April 19, the Nasdaq presented an amendment to the proposal regarding BlackRock's iShares Ethereum Trust.
Still on that occasion, in the document, the regulator explained that the comments made will be published on the website of SEC and must be delivered within 21 days.
BlackRock, one of the world's largest asset managers, plans to transform its existing trust into a cash ETF. Unlike futures-based ETFs, this fund will directly own Ethereum (ETH), offering a more direct investment option in the cryptocurrency.
It is worth remembering that, last month, the US SEC carried out a new postponement of the schedule related to the decision on the proposal for an Ethereum (ETH)-based exchange-traded fund (ETF) in sight from asset manager BlackRock, according to a document filed on March 4.
It is worth noting that with this postponement, it was the second time that the industry regulator postponed its decision on BlackRock's iShares Ethereum Trust. The first time was at the end of January. Additionally, the SEC also conducted public inquiries regarding the ETF's approval, as well as asking whether the Ethereum proof-of-stake mechanism raised any “unique concerns about Ether's susceptibility to fraud and manipulation.”
The SEC's decisions on the postponements come in the context of regulatory concerns about the cryptocurrency spot market. Historically, the SEC has expressed concerns about the possibility of fraud and manipulation in this market.
