The SEC crypto ETF approval process now runs on two parallel filings: the listing exchange either qualifies the product under generic listing standards adopted in September 2025 or files a Form 19b-4 rule change, and the fund sponsor files an S-1 registration statement with the Division of Corporation Finance. Shares can trade only after both tracks clear. The generic-standards route, new as of 2025, is what turned crypto ETF approval from a multi-year fight into a process that can finish in about 75 days.
The Two Filings Every Crypto ETF Needs
Most crypto ETFs are structured as commodity-based trusts rather than as funds under the Investment Company Act of 1940. That structure choice matters because it puts the product outside Rule 6c-11, the 2019 rule that lets qualifying ’40 Act ETFs launch without individual SEC permission.1SEC. SEC Adopts New Rule to Modernize Regulation of Exchange-Traded Funds Commodity-based trusts have to clear a different path.
The first filing is the exchange’s. The venue that wants to list the product (Nasdaq, NYSE Arca, or Cboe BZX) files a proposed rule change with the SEC on Form 19b-4. Once the proposal is published in the Federal Register, the SEC has 45 days to approve it, disapprove it, extend review, or open formal proceedings. If proceedings are opened, the agency has up to 240 days from publication to decide.2Cravath. A Spot Bitcoin ETP: Understanding the SEC’s Process for Reviewing an Exchange’s ETP Proposal
The second filing is the sponsor’s. The issuer submits an S-1 registration statement to the Division of Corporation Finance describing the product’s structure, risks, custody arrangements, and fees. Shares cannot begin trading until the S-1 is effective, even if the 19b-4 has been approved.
The Legal Standard the Exchange Has to Meet
The exchange proposing to list the ETF carries the burden of proving that its listing rules satisfy Section 6(b)(5) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, which requires rules designed to prevent fraud and manipulation and to protect investors.2Cravath. A Spot Bitcoin ETP: Understanding the SEC’s Process for Reviewing an Exchange’s ETP Proposal For crypto products, the SEC read that standard for years to require a surveillance-sharing agreement with a regulated market “of significant size” for the underlying asset. That reading is what blocked every spot crypto ETF from 2013 through 2023.
Why the SEC Said No for a Decade
The Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust filed the first spot Bitcoin ETF registration in 2013. The Bats BZX Exchange filed the rule change to list it in June 2016, staff rejected it in March 2017, and the full Commission disapproved it 3–1 in July 2018. The reasoning: no regulated market of significant size existed for Bitcoin, and the SEC saw unresolved risks of fraud, manipulation, and thin liquidity in spot markets.3Dechert. SEC Again Rejects Winklevoss Proposal for Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Product
Between 2018 and March 2023, the SEC disapproved more than 20 exchange filings for spot Bitcoin ETFs on the same grounds.4SEC. Statement on the Approval of Spot Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Products During the same period, however, the agency did approve Bitcoin futures ETFs that held CME futures contracts. That inconsistency was what a court eventually seized on.
The Grayscale Ruling
After the SEC denied Grayscale’s application to convert its Bitcoin Trust into a spot ETF, Grayscale sued. On August 29, 2023, a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit unanimously vacated the denial as arbitrary and capricious. The court found the SEC could not explain why a CME surveillance-sharing agreement was adequate for futures ETFs but inadequate for a spot product tracking the same asset, particularly given a 99.9% price correlation between spot and futures markets.5Justia. Grayscale Investments, LLC v. SEC, No. 22-1142 The SEC declined to seek further review in October 2023.6Bloomberg. SEC Won’t Ask Court to Reverse Its Decision on Spot Bitcoin ETF
What Approval Looked Like Under the Old Process
On January 10, 2024, the SEC approved 11 spot Bitcoin ETPs in a single 3–2 vote, with Chair Gary Gensler describing it as the most sustainable path forward given the Grayscale ruling. Staff reviewed 10 S-1 registration statements simultaneously so that issuers would launch on the same day. Gensler emphasized the approval was “cabined” to spot products holding a single non-security commodity and did not signal openness to other crypto assets.4SEC. Statement on the Approval of Spot Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Products
Ethereum followed five months later. On May 23, 2024, the SEC approved 19b-4 proposals from Nasdaq, NYSE, and Cboe for spot Ether ETPs, leaning on correlation analyses between CME Ether futures and spot markets over the prior two and a half years.7Forbes. Ethereum ETFs Approved: Insights Into the SEC’s Decision8Investopedia. SEC Approves Spot Ether ETFs9Morningstar. What’s Next for Spot Ether ETFs
The 2025 Overhaul
Under Chair Paul Atkins, appointed in April 2025, the SEC rebuilt the process rather than working case by case. The Division of Corporation Finance issued disclosure guidance for crypto ETP issuers on July 1, 2025, covering risk factors, custody, conflicts of interest, and fees.10SEC. Staff Statement on Crypto Asset Exchange-Traded Products On July 29, 2025, the Commission approved in-kind creations and redemptions for crypto ETPs, replacing the cash-only restriction that had applied to Bitcoin and Ethereum products from launch.11SEC. SEC Permits In-Kind Creations and Redemptions for Crypto ETPs
Generic Listing Standards: The Current Fast Track
The structural change came on September 17, 2025, when the SEC approved generic listing standards for commodity-based trust shares, including crypto-backed products, filed by Nasdaq, NYSE Arca, and Cboe BZX.12SEC. SEC Approves Generic Listing Standards for Commodity-Based Trust Shares A product that meets the criteria can be listed without its exchange filing a separate 19b-4 for each fund.
To qualify under the generic standards, the underlying commodity or its derivative futures must trade on markets that participate in the Intermarket Surveillance Group or maintain comprehensive surveillance-sharing agreements. Issuers must publish daily holdings, net asset value, market price, and bid-ask spreads on their websites, and they must maintain information barriers against misuse of material nonpublic information.13SEC. Order Approving Generic Listing Standards, Release No. 34-103995
The practical consequence was immediate. The SEC told issuers of pending Litecoin, Solana, XRP, Cardano, and Dogecoin ETFs to withdraw their 19b-4 filings, since those filings were no longer needed. The timeline from filing to trading now runs roughly 75 days rather than up to nine months, with the S-1 becoming the practical bottleneck.14Yahoo Finance. SEC Urges Immediate Withdrawal of LTC, SOL, XRP, ADA, and DOGE ETF 19b-4 Filings
Also on September 17, 2025, the SEC cleared Grayscale’s Digital Large Cap Fund for trading on NYSE Arca, the first multi-cryptocurrency ETP on a U.S. exchange. It tracks the CoinDesk 5 Index and holds Bitcoin, Ethereum, BNB, XRP, and Solana.15Grayscale. Grayscale CoinDesk Crypto 5 ETF
What Still Requires the Traditional Route
Products that don’t meet the generic criteria still have to go through individual 19b-4 review under the 45-day and 240-day clocks. That covers assets whose underlying markets lack the required surveillance-sharing framework, novel structures, and any feature the standards don’t cover.
Staking is the clearest example of a feature the generic process does not resolve. The 2024 Ethereum approvals prohibited it outright, and while multiple issuers, including Grayscale, BlackRock, Fidelity, Franklin Templeton, Bitwise, and 21Shares, have filed to amend their products to stake Ether, those requests remained pending in late July 2025 after the SEC extended review in April 2025 and opened a public comment period in June.16SEC. Comment Letter to SEC Crypto Task Force The direction of travel favors approval: in May 2025 Corporation Finance staff concluded certain protocol staking does not involve securities offerings, and in August 2025 the Division said the same about certain liquid staking activities.17Latham & Watkins. US Crypto Policy Tracker: Regulatory Developments Neither statement addressed staking inside a registered ETP.
From Filing to Trading: The Current Sequence
For a spot crypto ETF that fits the generic listing standards, the sequence is now:
- The listing exchange confirms the product meets its generic listing criteria, which turns on surveillance-sharing coverage of the underlying market and standard disclosure and information-barrier commitments by the issuer.
- The sponsor files an S-1 with the Division of Corporation Finance describing structure, custody, risks, and fees, using the July 2025 staff guidance as a framework.
- The S-1 becomes effective. Shares can then begin trading on the exchange without a separate SEC vote on a 19b-4.
- Creations and redemptions may be in-kind or in cash, following the July 2025 order permitting in-kind transactions for crypto ETPs.
For products that fall outside the generic standards (novel underlyings, staking, or other features not covered), the older two-track process still applies: a 19b-4 that has to survive Section 6(b)(5) scrutiny, plus an effective S-1. As of mid-2026, 91 outstanding crypto ETF applications covered 24 individual tokens, most of them now moving through the faster path.18SEC. Comment Letter on SR-NYSEARCA-2025-54