The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) postponed decisions on several crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs), citing the ongoing transition in leadership.

The agency delayed proposals for Litecoin, Dogecoin, Solana, and XRP ETFs, as well as rule changes related to staking in Ethereum ETFs and options trading on Fidelity's Ether fund.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has postponed decisions on several crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs), citing the ongoing transition in leadership.

The agency is yet to rule on proposals for Litecoin, Dogecoin, Solana, and XRP ETFs, as well as rule changes related to staking in Ethereum ETFs and options trading on Fidelity’s Ether fund.

The pending nominations of Paul Atkins, a longtime crypto supporter, to lead the SEC following Gary Gensler’s January resignation are still pending confirmation hearing. According to Semafor, the required financial disclosures have not yet been submitted by the White House, which could slow down the process.

"These hitches are to be expected and shouldn't be viewed negatively towards approval or lack thereof," said Nate Geraci, president of ETF Store.

"The count continues with Litecoin at 90% and good chance for more. Then, Doge at 75%, SLNA at 70%, and a decent chance for LIT at 65% (which is surprising). But we'll see. Anything can happen in the last week," added Bloomberg analysts James Seyffart and Eric Balchunas.

SEC softens stance on crypto

The SEC has dropped several enforcement cases since January, including those against Coinbase, OpenSea, Robinhood Crypto, and UniSwap. It has also rolled back restrictive crypto accounting guidelines and formed a new crypto task force, spearheaded by Commissioner Hester Peirce, to work on refining regulatory classifications for digital assets.

The regulator previously approved spot Bitcoin ETFs in January 2024 and Ethereum ETFs in July 2024, leading to nearly $7 billion in net assets flowing into Ether ETFs.

Fidelity’s FETH fund, which holds $780 million, is now seeking approval to incorporate staking in its offering. Meanwhile, BlackRock’s ETHA ETF, the largest Ether fund with $3.7 billion, is awaiting an options listing decision.

The SEC has given itself until May 14 to rule on whether BZX can list options tied to Fidelity’s Ether ETF, and it will decide on BlackRock’s Ethereum Trust options by April.

For now, the crypto market is in a holding pattern, waiting for a new chairman to be confirmed before major regulatory decisions can proceed.