SEC Delays Decision On Staking For BlackRock’s Ethereum ETF

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has pushed back on its decision on BlackRock’s application to include staking in its Ethereum ETF. The commission will now have until October to decide whether or not to approve the rule change.

SEC Pushes Back Decision On Staking For BlackRock’s Ethereum ETF

In a release, the commission revealed that it has extended the review period for Nasdaq’s proposed rule change to amend BlackRock’s iShares Ethereum Trust to permit staking of ETH. Now, the SEC has set October 30 as when it shall either approve or disapprove the proposed rule change.

The Nasdaq filed in July to include staking in the BlackRock Ethereum ETF. However, it wasn’t until August 1 that the commission published the proposed rule change in the Federal Register, which kick-started the approval process.

The initial 45-day review window was to elapse on September 15. However, the SEC has now gone ahead to extend the review period before that window elapses. The commission explained that it finds it appropriate to designate a longer period within which to take action on the proposed rule change to have sufficient time to consider the proposal and the issues therein.

A Similar Fate As Other ETH ETFs

However, this move to delay its decision on staking for BlackRock’s Ethereum ETF was expected, as the commission had made a similar move on other proposals to include staking in other ETH ETFs.

The final deadline for the SEC to decide on CBOE’s proposed rule change to include staking in the 21Shares Ethereum ETF comes up on October 23. Meanwhile, the final deadline for the commission to decide on NYSE’s proposal to include staking in Grayscale’s ETH ETF comes up on October 29, just before the BlackRock decision.

However, it is worth noting that the SEC could approve staking for the Ethereum ETFs at the same time. This means that a potential approval order could come as early as October 23. It is worth noting that the Ethereum price has recorded significant gains over the last few months, partly due to the anticipation of the inclusion of staking in ETFs.

The SEC already declared that staking activities aren’t securities. As such, there is a huge possibility that it would approve staking for these ETH funds. Moreover, the REX-Osprey’s Solana ETF, which is the first SOL ETF, already includes staking.