The US Securities Commission will not approve Grayscale Ether Futures Trust ETF product until the end of May.

The deadline for deciding whether to let Grayscale, a digital asset management company, approve its Ethereum ETH $3,334 Futures Trust exchange-traded fund (ETF) has been extended once more by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The SEC I announced in a March 22 filing that it would extend the deadline for deciding on whether to approve Grayscale’s Ethereum Futures Trust ETF—which will concentrate on investing in Ethereum futures contracts—from March 31 to May 30.

“To allow for adequate consideration of the proposed rule change and the issues raised therein, the Commission determines that it is appropriate to designate a longer period within which to issue an order approving or disapproving the proposed rule change.”

The SEC announced in December 2023 that it would seek more public feedback on whether Grayscale’s futures ETF product should be listed, delaying the product’s approval deadline.

This was only three months after Grayscale suggested that in September 2023, shares of the Grayscale Ethereum Futures Trust ETF be listed and traded under Arca Rule 8.200-E of the New York Stock Exchange.

After the listing, Grayscale was accused by Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart of using its futures ETF application as a “trojan horse” to persuade the SEC to approve its spot Ether ETF.

He clarified that Grayscale would be able to argue for the acceptance of its spot Ether ETF application if the SEC granted Grayscale’s application.

In the meanwhile, on January 25, the SEC opened the application to public comments and postponed making a judgment on whether to accept Grayscale’s spot Ether ETF.

There has been a growing need for more confidence among observers in the cryptocurrency industry about the SEC’s intentions towards crypto-based exchange-traded funds (ETFs) since the approval of spot Bitcoin ETFs on January 10.

Capital’s creator, John Lo, recently told Cointelegraph that he anticipates the SEC will closely monitor all incoming crypto-based exchange-traded funds (ETFs), particularly those based on either:

It’s possible that the SEC was somewhat pressured to allow the Bitcoin ETFs due to its case with Grayscale, which is why scrutiny of cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds (ETFs) has only increased. Undoubtedly, the SEC considers that to be a significant setback for them.

As Ethereum ETFs, other asset management companies are also needing help.

The SEC I indicated in two different filings on March 4 that it would postpone deciding on the applications filed by Fidelity for its Ethereum Fund and BlackRock for its iShares Ethereum Trust.