On February 6th, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) postponed its decision on the Ethereum (ETH) spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) jointly filed by Invesco and Galaxy Digital.

The proposed product would allow professional investors to gain direct exposure to Ethereum. Currently, Ethereum futures, listed on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), are the only regulated way for American investors and funds to bet on Ethereum’s growth.

Bloomberg Intelligence analyst James Seyffart said the delay was expected.

“It’s 100% expected that there will be more postponements in the coming months,” Seifert said. “The key date for the Ethereum Spot ETF right now is May 23rd, which is the final deadline for VanEck applications.”

In January, the SEC postponed its review of Grayscale’s application to convert its Ethereum Trust Product (ETHE) into an ETF. It is also delaying a decision on BlackRock’s application for an Ethereum ETF.

Major financial institutions expect Ethereum to rise 70% in the coming months as the ETF application is expected to be approved in May.

In a January note, Standard Chartered Bank said: “Ahead of the expected approval date of May 23rd, the price of ETH will either track or outperform Bitcoin (BTC) in the period leading up to it. I expect it to perform.”

ETH rose 2.2% in the past 24 hours, the biggest gain among major crypto assets (virtual currencies).

｜Translation: CoinDesk JAPAN
｜Edited by: Toshihiko Inoue
｜Image: Nikhilesh De/CoinDesk
｜Original text: SEC Delays Another Ether ETF Application