US SEC delays decisions on Polkadot and Hedera ETFs as agency weighs dozens of crypto proposals

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is pushing back its deadline for a few proposals to list and trade crypto funds based on Polkadot and Hedera's DOT to HBAR tokens. The agency is weighing dozens of filings to launch crypto exchange-traded funds.

The SEC is delaying its decision until June 11 to approve or disapprove a proposal from Grayscale to convert its Polkadot Trust as well as one from Canary to list an HBAR ETF, according to filings posted on Thursday. It originally had until the end of this week to make a judgement. The agency is also delaying a decision on the Bitwise Bitcoin and Ethereum ETF until June 10. 

"The Commission finds it appropriate to designate a longer period within which to take action on the proposed rule change, as modified by Amendment No. 1, so that it has sufficient time to consider the proposed rule change and the issues raised therein," the agency said in the HBAR filing. 

Filings for the Grayscale Polkadot Trust and the Canary HBAR ETF were made in February as firms look to launch a variety of crypto ETFs in what is expected, and is so far, a crypto-friendlier SEC. Since President Donald Trump took office in January, the SEC has shown an openness to the crypto industry through public crypto roundtables while also dropping several lawsuits against crypto firms. The next roundtable is on Friday and is focused on crypto custody. 

Under former SEC Chair Gary Gensler, the agency approved the listing of spot Bitcoin ETFs in January 2024 and spot Ethereum ETFs later in July, following a decisive court ruling brought on by Grayscale.