SEC Adds Dogecoin, Hedera ETFs to Growing List of Delayed Decisions

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has extended the review periods for multiple crypto ETF applications, including those involving Dogecoin and HBAR, on Wednesday and Thursday.

The SEC instituted formal proceedings on June 11 for the Bitwise Dogecoin ETF and on June 12 for the Grayscale Hedera Trust, extending deadlines while requesting additional public comments. A similar document on Canary Capital’s HBAR ETF was published on June 10.

Four separate Solana ETF proposals from Bitwise, 21Shares, VanEck, and Canary Capital have been postponed to early July 2025. The Grayscale Cardano ETF received a July 15 extension, while Bitwise’s Ethereum staking ETF faces a July 6 deadline.

About 72 crypto-related ETFs are “sitting with the SEC awaiting approval to list or list options,” according to Bloomberg senior ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, following a roundup from earlier in April.

Pushing back the dates for the proceedings is “appropriate at this time in view of the legal and policy issues raised” from the proposed changes, the SEC’s latest filing on Grayscale’s proposal reads.

It’s worth noting that the SEC clarified in writing that the delays do not “indicate that the Commission has reached any conclusions with respect to any of the issues involved.” 

Instead, it means that the regulator “seeks and encourages interested persons to provide comments on the proposed rule change.”

When exchanges want to list new ETF products, they must file “proposed rule changes” with the SEC to modify their own listing standards to accommodate the new products.

The “legal and policy issues” the SEC mentions relate to whether these crypto-based ETFs meet the standards to “prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices” and “protect investors and the public interest” as required by Section 6(b)(5) of the Securities Exchange Act.

The SEC then reviews whether these exchange rule modifications comply with federal securities laws.

For the Bitwise Dogecoin ETF, NYSE Arca filed to list and trade the ETF under NYSE Arca Rule 8.201-E (Commodity-Based Trust Shares), with shares designed to track the performance of a specific commodity or derivative, as the exchange maintains fair and transparent trading.

For Grayscale’s proposed Hedera ETF, Nasdaq filed to list the ETF under Nasdaq Rule 5711(d), which shares similar aspects to the NYSE rules, setting a framework for how these trust shares are structured, traded, and monitored. 

Canary’s HBAR ETF proposal is also being reviewed under this rule.

Edited by Sebastian Sinclair