The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has delayed its decision on whether to approve or reject Cboe Exchange’s application to list options on Fidelity Investments’ spot Ethereum exchange-traded fund.
According to a regulatory filing on Feb. 28, the SEC said it was pushing its decision on the Ethereum (ETH) product forward.
Under U.S. federal law, the agency has up to 60 additional days to reach a final verdict if a decision is not made within the initial 180-day review period. As a result, Cboe will have to wait longer before knowing whether it has received the green light to list options contracts on Fidelity’s Ethereum Fund, ticker FETH.
In its announcement, the SEC stated it was extending the review period to allow “sufficient time to consider the proposed rule change.”
Cboe first filed for regulatory approval to list Ether ETF options on Aug. 19, 2024. Weeks later, on Sept. 4, 2024, the SEC published the proposed rule change in the Federal Register, opening it up for public comment.
When is the SEC’s final decision?
As noted, federal law grants the SEC up to 180 days after the initial filing of a proposed rule change to make a decision. If no decision is reached within that period, the agency has an additional 60 days, but no more, before it must either approve or reject the application.
For this proposal, the timeline indicates that March 3 would have marked the 180-day deadline, while May 2, 2025, will mark the full 240-day review period. This means the SEC now has until May 2, 2025, to issue its final ruling.
Whether the regulator will wait until then remains uncertain. However, given the SEC’s recent shift toward a more supportive stance, market sentiment leans optimistic.
By the time the SEC rules on Cboe’s application, it will have already made a final decision on another Ethereum ETF options proposal.
This relates to the April 2025 deadline for options on BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust. Nasdaq ISE filed an application to list and trade options contracts tied to ETHA in July 2024.
In a February 7, 2025 filing, the SEC designated April 9,2025 as the deadline for a final decision.
