The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is working with US exchanges on a generic listing framework for token-based exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that could eliminate the need for issuers to file individual rule-change requests, Fox News’ Eleanor Terret reported on July 1.
According to the report, the initiative would enable an ETF sponsor to bypass the customary Form 19b-4 process when the underlying token meets predetermined criteria.
The sponsor would instead submit a registration statement on Form S-1, observe the standard 75-day review period, and list the product once the waiting period ends.
People familiar with the talks said that market capitalization, on-exchange trading volume, and daily liquidity are among the metrics being discussed.
The current rule-change pathway requires each spot crypto ETF to secure a Commission order before listing, a step designed for novel or complex products.
Moving to a standing rule for qualifying assets would shorten timelines and reduce iterative comment cycles between the agency and applicants.
‘Very good news’
Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart wrote on X that a generic standard “would be very good news for the crypto ETF space,” arguing it would offer “clear rules of the road” and deliver long-requested regulatory certainty.
Eric Balchunas, senior ETF analyst at Bloomberg, echoed the sentiment. He called the concept “what everyone wants, what makes sense, and what we think will happen,” reiterating that such clarity underpins their 95% approval outlook for most leading coins.
He added that the key question centers on the eventual thresholds but predicted they “will likely be loose enough where the vast majority of top 50 coins would be OK to be ETF-ized.”
The analysts also note that a broad standard could encourage multi-asset portfolios and staking-based structures similar to the pending Solana proposal.
Recent ETF momentum
The Bloomberg analysts have also recently projected a second-half wave of multi-asset index and basket ETFs, with funds for Dogecoin, Cardano, Polkadot, and Avalanche carrying a 90% probability later in the year.
Following their prediction, the Grayscale crypto basket fund received approval from the SEC to be converted into an ETF.
Furthermore, the Bloomberg analysts raised the approval odds for Solana, Litecoin, and XRP ETFs to 95% by 2025. They base their outlook on rising institutional demand and the current US administration’s pro-crypto stance.
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