The SEC’s Never-Ending Crypto Waiting Game: ETFs and Endless Delays! 🚦⏳

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Amid the labyrinthine corridors of American regulatory rigor, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)—that tireless sentinel of fiscal orthodoxy—has, with an almost artful procrastination, postponed its verdicts on the sly proposals of Polkadot (DOT) and Hedera (HBAR) ETFs. It appears the digital asset rolodex has swollen beyond its buttoned cuffs, leaving paperwork to pirouette in bureaucratic limbo.

Deadlines That Wiggle Like a Caterpillar in June

Thursday’s dispatch composed by the SEC announced an extension, a graciously languid move, nudging the decision on Grayscale’s charming conversion of its Polkadot Trust into a spot ETF all the way to June 11. Mercury likes to dawdle too, so Canary Digital’s kinship with Hedera’s accoutrement shares the same procrastinatory dance card. Surely, both were earmarked for finale fanfare by this week’s end—but the curtain remains stubbornly ajar.

In a delightful encore of delay, the Bitwise Bitcoin and Ethereum duet was demanded to wait until June 10 before the auditory judgment of fate.

The Bold Excuse: “We Need Time to Think (Seriously!)”

Our ever-patient regulators explain their dalliance thusly—a craving for extra moments to deeply pore over these digital incantations and grapple with whispered qualms lodged in the applications. Hedera’s filing, in its flowery bureaucratic prose, admonishes:

“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.”

How civilized! A symphony of caution, playing a prelude to the grand opus balancing innovation, investor dreams, and the ever-vigilant gaze of oversight.

Paul Atkins and the Mountain of Crypto Dreams

The postscript of delay arrives under the watchful eye of SEC Chair Paul Atkins, whose stewardship has consigned over 70 crypto ETF petitions to a contemplative stall. From the imposing altcoins like XRP and Solana to the meme-born jesters and their leveraged whimsy, the applicant parade stretches endlessly, as institutional and retail suitors line up with stars in their eyes and wallets in hand.

The submissions for Grayscale’s Polkadot and Canary’s Hedera ETFs, fashionably late as February entries, came riding the political wave post-President Trump’s inauguration, adding to the historical tapestry of this saga.

An ETF Menagerie: Penguins, Doge & “2x Melania”? Really?

Behind the velvet curtain, industry sages murmur of a wild, eclectic spirit nestling in the queue’s shadows. Bloomberg’s Eric Balchunas spins tales of a surreal menagerie: funds inspired by altcoins mingle with audacious concoctions dedicated to penguins, Dogecoin’s canine charm, and something mysteriously dubbed “2x Melania” (one shudders with speculative curiosity).

The crypto world had once dreamt of kinder skies in 2025, but these bureaucratic delays whisper otherwise. The next roundtable, set for Friday, promises to dissect crypto custody—a topic no less thrilling, as it too wields the power to shape the destiny of these stranded digital treasures.

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2025-04-25 18:06