SEC’s May 5 Litecoin ETF Deadline Looms as Approval Odds Reach 79%

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is set to decide on the proposed spot Litecoin (LTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) by Canary Capital on May 5.

Meanwhile, market watchers have grown increasingly optimistic. Approval odds have surged to their highest point on Polymarket since mid-March.

Will the SEC Approve Litecoin ETF?

BeInCrypto reported in January that Nasdaq submitted the proposed rule change (Form 19b-4) to list and trade shares of the Canary Litecoin ETF. The proposal was published for public comment in the Federal Register on February 4. This commenced the initial 45-day review period, which concluded on March 21. 

However, the SEC opted to extend this period by 45 days, designating May 5 as the new 90-day deadline.

“Accordingly, the Commission, pursuant to Section 19(b)(2) of the Act, 6 designates May 5, 2025, as the date by which the Commission shall either approve or disapprove, or institute proceedings to determine whether to disapprove, the proposed rule change (File No. SR-NASDAQ-2025-005),” the statement read.

The regulator has made similar moves for other cryptocurrency ETF applications. On April 29, the SEC postponed its decision on Franklin Templeton’s spot XRP (XRP) ETF until June 17 and Bitwise’s Dogecoin (DOGE) proposal until June 15. Grayscale’s Ethereum (ETH) staking ETF also faced the same fate.

Earlier, on April 24, the regulator delayed decisions on Bitwise’s Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum ETFs and Canary Capital’s Hedera (HBAR) ETF. The new deadlines are now on June 10 and 11, respectively.

Similarly, Grayscale’s application to convert its Polkadot (DOT) Trust into an ETF was also delayed. The new decision deadline is June 11.

However, the SEC’s decision not to delay the Litecoin ETF beyond the 90-day deadline has drawn significant attention from the community. Bloomberg’s ETF analyst James Seyffart highlighted this in a recent post on X (formerly Twitter).

“SEC went early and delayed a bunch of filings but not this,” Seyffart wrote.

Despite this, he emphasized that while Litecoin might be approved sooner, a delay is still the more probable outcome.

“If any asset has a chance of early approval, it’s Litecoin IMO. Personally think a delay is more likely but def something to watch,” he added.

Previously, the analyst estimated that the Litecoin ETF had the highest chance of approval, 90%, among all altcoin ETFs. This prediction seems to align with market sentiment.

On the prediction platform Polymarket, approval odds surged to 79%, the highest since mid-March. Additionally, the odds for approval by July saw a boost, rising to 49%.

A decision in favor of the ETF could pave the way for broader adoption of Litecoin, often regarded as a lighter, faster alternative to Bitcoin. Conversely, disapproval or further delay could signal continued regulatory hesitation in the crypto space. As the clock ticks, all eyes remain on the SEC’s next move.