US SEC Delays Hashdex ETH ETF Application Approval, ETH Continues Decline

NOIDA (CoinChapter.com)— In a hit to Ethereum spot ETF fans, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has decided to delay the approval of Hashdex’s spot ETH ETF application on March 19.

The delays follow similar decisions that the SEC made for the Grayscale and Fidelity applications earlier in March. The delay indicates that the SEC continues to hesitate when it comes to crypto-related investment vehicles.

SEC chief Gary Gensler made the regulatory body’s stance clear on ETFs in his statement following spot Bitcoin ETF approval. Back then, Gensler noted the commission’s loss in court in the Grayscale lawsuit as one of the reasons behind the BTC spot ETF approval.

SEC Delays Hashdex ETF

The SEC said it was delaying its decision on the Hashdex ETF till May 30, 2024. The market watchdog claimed that the deadline extension would allow it more time to review the proposal and its implications.

The Nasdaq initially submitted the application on Sept. 20, 2023, and published it for comment in Oct. 2023. Toroso Investments, a firm registered as a commodity pool operator with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and a member of the National Futures Association, would manage the fund.

Moreover, the postponement aligns with the SEC’s history, where the regulatory body has dragged the approval process as long as it could in the name of ‘thoroughly evaluating the complex issues‘ involved. The delays were a regular occurrence during the spot Bitcoin ETF approval battles.

However, the Hashdex Ethereum spot ETF application wasn’t the only one for which the SEC delayed approval. In another notice on March 19, the SEC announced it was delaying its decision on ARK 21Shares Ethereum ETF to May 24 later this year.

Meanwhile, Fidelity filed an amendment to its existing ETH ETF application on March 19, proposing to add a staking clause. The firm claimed it would stake an undisclosed amount of the fund’s assets through one or more trusted staking providers.

Fidelity is one of the eight applicants for Ether ETF with SEC and has already suffered delays.

ETH Price Erases March Gains

Meanwhile, ETH price is struggling to hold above $3,200 after the wider market correction since March 12. The SEC delaying ETH ETF approval could result in more losses for the token, with ETH price suffering its largest single-day loss since Nov. 2022, shedding nearly 10% to reach a daily low near $3,174

ETH’s relative strength index returns to the neutral region, with the RSI trendline plummeting towards the oversold region, scoring 40.01 on the daily charts.

RSI is a momentum indicator measuring asset price movements to identify overbought or oversold conditions.

If the sell-off continues, Ether’s price could drop to the support near $3,070 attracting short traders to the market. Breaching the immediate support would confirm the downtrend, forcing ETH price to test its 100-day EMA (blue wave) support near $2,850.

Conversely, a rally from here might see ETH price face resistance from the supply wall near $3,530. Moreover, flipping the immediate support could help the token rally to the resistance near $3,900 before retreating.