Illustrative Bitcoin and Ether tokens during a listing ceremony of a spot-Bitcoin and spot-Ether ETFs issued by China Asset Management at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in Hong Kong, China, on Tuesday, April 30, 2024.
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The Securities and Exchange Commission voted on Wednesday to approve proposed rule changes by three national securities exchanges, enabling them to adopt generic listing standards for new cryptocurrency and other spot commodity exchange-traded products.
The commission vote removes the last remaining hurdle to dozens of new spot ETFs tied to cryptocurrencies ranging from solana to dogecoin.
In July, the SEC issued an order spelling out the details of the listing standards, which specify the criteria an asset manager and the exchanges — the NYSE, Nasdaq and Cboe Global Markets — must meet in order for a new spot crypto ETF to be approved without a lengthy, customized regulatory review.
It is the latest step taken by the administration of President Donald Trump to bring crypto assets into the mainstream.
Until now, the SEC has handled every spot crypto ETF filing on a case-by-case basis, and required two separate filings, one from the exchange that plans to list the product and one from the asset manager, to receive approval from different divisions.
The new process will cut the maximum time from filing to launch to 75 days from 240 days, or longer still.
“This is a watershed moment in America’s regulatory approach to digital assets, overturning more than a decade of precedent since the first bitcoin ETF filing in 2013,” said Teddy Fusaro, president of Bitwise Asset Management.
In a press release, SEC Chair Paul Atkins described the approval by commission members as a way to foster innovation and reduce barriers to digital asset products.
The first ETFs likely to launch under the new rules are those tracking solana and XRP. Asset managers began filing these with the SEC more than a year ago, but regulators have yet to approve spot crypto ETFs other than those tracking bitcoin and ethereum. Even then, the debut of the bitcoin ETFs in January 2024 came only after years of struggle and a legal battle.
Under the administration of former President Joe Biden, the SEC had moved slowly to consider spot crypto ETFs. In contrast, the Trump administration aligned itself firmly with the crypto community, pledging to take a more favorable view of digital assets.
“The gates are open but there’s still a lot of work to be done,” said Steve McClurg, CEO of Canary Capital, which has multiple products waiting for approval. Speaking on Monday, ahead of the SEC ruling, he said that even after the commission vote, “marketing plans, legal filings, work with service providers all have to be addressed, based on the new roadmap.”
The generic listing standards offer a few pathways for asset managers to seek spot ETF approval. Steve Feinour, a partner at Stradley Ronon who has worked on some of the pending applications, said he expects most will turn to the provision allowing expedited approvals for crypto ETFs that have had futures contracts regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in existence for at least six months.
He expects the first products could debut as soon as October.
“Not every token is going to currently qualify, but [the SEC approval] will open up the floodgates,” Feinour said.
