Cryptocurrency ETFs Likely Not to Get Approval Until New SEC Chairman Takes Office
President Donald Trump has nominated Paul Atkins as his nominee to lead the agency, but his confirmation hearings have not yet been scheduled.
Helen Brown | Edited by Nikhilesh De Updated 12 Mar 2025 17:17 UTC Published 12 Mar 2025 16:58 UTC
Key points:
- On Tuesday, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) delayed its review of several applications to create cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds.
- Two sources told CoinDesk that it is unlikely the SEC will make a decision on the applications before Donald Trump's nominee to lead the regulator, Paul Atkins, is confirmed by Congress.
Despite the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) recent approval of a number of applications for cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds (ETFs), the agency is unlikely to make any decisions on approving these products until new guidance is in place.
“I would be very surprised if they approved any of these applications before [Paul] Atkins was approved,” said James Seyfarth, an ETF analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. “We thought anything that could be considered before Atkins’ formal appearance at the SEC would be delayed.”
A person familiar with the matter told CoinDesk that he shared that view. “This administration has shown a capacity to break precedent, so I think an early approval is possible. I would be surprised, but you never know,” he added.
President Donald Trump has nominated former SEC commissioner and current CEO of Patomak Global Partners Paul Atkins as his pick to lead the agency. Former SEC Chairman Gary Gensler left his post in January, ahead of Trump’s inauguration. However, Atkins’ confirmation hearing has not yet been scheduled.
On Tuesday, the agency delayed its decision on several spot cryptocurrency ETFs, including XRP, Solana (SOL), Dogecoin (DOGE), and Litecoin (LTC). The move, while not entirely expected, was not shocking, Seyffarth said.
It took years for issuers to get SEC approval to launch spot ETFs on Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), even though there is a well-established, regulated futures market for these assets. While this is not a legal requirement to launch an ETF based on an asset, it was an important criterion for the SEC when reviewing applications related to BTC and ETH.
None of the existing ETF applications meet this criterion. However, Seyfarth and his colleagues estimate that the probability of approval for several altcoin ETFs by the end of the year is 65% or higher. While some applications that will be considered in May and June have a better chance of being approved, everything depends on the confirmation of a new chairman.
In its reviews of previous Bitcoin and Ether ETF applications, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has often used its allowed procedural delays to extend review periods to nearly 240 days, the maximum period during which it can approve or reject an application.
“Theoretically, we should have a chairman by then, but I wouldn’t say that these decisions will be approved immediately. It’s certainly more likely than the March and April deadline for these various spot crypto assets,” Seyfarth said.
