ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, three people familiar with the matter said that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission asked exchanges to speed up the update of 19b-4 applications, indicating that it may approve these applications before the key deadline (May 23/24). But this does not mean that the ETF will be approved. Potential issuers also need their S-1 applications to be approved before the product can begin trading. One person familiar with the matter said that the SEC may take indefinitely to approve the S-1 document because it has no deadline.

One company in talks with the SEC said it feels it is finally on the right track to approval after the agency dragged its feet just a few weeks ago, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Additionally, Bloomberg ETF analysts Eric Balchunas and James Seyffart raised the odds of a spot ether ETF being approved from 25% to 75% after hearing rumors that the SEC might take a more favorable stance on the application. They later corrected themselves, saying the odds were tied to 19b-4 approval.

The SEC is expected to make a decision on the VanEck spot Ethereum ETF on May 23. ChainCatcher Note: Currently, there are seven entities applying for Ethereum ETFs, namely: BlackRock, Fidelity, Invesco & Galaxy, Grayscale, VanEck, 21Shares & Ark and Hashdex. The approval period of each entity in the SEC is shown in the following table: