A report on May 21 said that SEC officials unexpectedly asked Nasdaq and the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) on Monday to quickly update and revise their spot Ethereum ETF listing application documents, which is usually a pre-approval request, suggesting that the agency may be ready to approve the two companies' applications.

At present, issuers such as VanEck have updated their 19b-4 documents, and most issuers have removed the relevant pledge clauses. Staking has always been a sensitive issue for Ethereum because it enables holders to earn returns, which raises questions about whether the token should be considered a security regulated by the SEC.

The SEC is about to make a blockbuster decision!

The SEC must decide by this week whether to approve the spot Ethereum ETF listing applications submitted by VanEck and ARK Investments and 21Shares submitted by CBOE. The exchanges need the SEC to approve their revised rules before they can list the products, while the issuers still need the SEC to approve the ETF registration statement before they can start trading.

Unlike the documents submitted by the exchanges, the SEC has no fixed decision time frame, which means that it may take several months for the spot Ethereum ETF to start trading. There is also speculation that the SEC's simultaneous filing requests to all issuers may mean that several spot Ethereum ETFs are expected to be approved at the same time.

But the approval of these applications does not automatically open the door to new spot funds. People familiar with the matter said that this is by no means a guarantee of a green light.

After delaying its decision on these fund applications in the past few months, the SEC will approve or reject VanEck's application by a May 23 deadline. VanEck is one of the issuers that submitted applications to the SEC.

It is reported that there have been conversations between SEC staff and spot Ethereum ETF issuers about S-1 documents. At present, they have concluded that there is still "some work to be done" on these issues.

There is a key question

The advent of spot Bitcoin ETFs in January this year was considered a breakthrough because they actually hold Bitcoin and have been widely welcomed by investors. Previously, investors could only invest in Bitcoin futures, a derivative contract to buy or sell an asset at a specific price in the future.