Litecoin price remained in an uptrend even as approval for the first spot Litecoin exchange-traded fund from Canary Capital has been delayed due to an ongoing U.S. government shutdown. However, analysts are certain the launch is still on track and only a matter of time.
Summary
- SEC takes no action on Canary Capital’s spot Litecoin ETF on deadline day as U.S. government remained shutdown.
- Analysts describe the delay as temporary, with expectations that the fund will launch once SEC operations normalize.
- LTC price remained in an uptrend despite the ETF hiccup.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission was expected to deliver its decision on whether it would allow Canary Capital’s spot Litecoin ETF to begin trading; however, it took no action on the deadline day, and the new approval timeline remains unclear as of now.
Under the SEC’s 19b-4 process, October was packed with ETF deadline windows scattered throughout the month, especially after the agency had approved generic listing standards that reshaped how crypto-based ETFs are filed and reviewed.
Further, the SEC had withdrawn delay notices for several ETF applications, which provided further confirmation that the regulators were preparing to issue final decisions without further holdups.
Community members alongside analysts were all but certain that the Litecoin ETF would be approved on schedule, but the progress halted after the U.S. federal government shut down when Republican and Democratic politicians failed to resolve a budget dispute.
Currently, the SEC is “operating on a skeleton crew”, according to FOX News reporter Eleanor Terrett, which has slowed down its ability to process filings and respond to press inquiries.
“It’s unclear what remaining staff is working or what their priorities are at the moment,” Terrett wrote in an Oct. 3 X post, adding that since the SEC has asked issuers to withdraw their 19b-4 filings, the deadlines technically “no longer matter” and approval now hinges solely on the review and effectiveness of the S-1 registration statements.
Several ETF issuers have filed amended S-1 registration statements to comply with the updated framework, and at the time, it is unclear whether the current delay is due to the ongoing shutdown or simply a result of the SEC adjusting to its new internal processes following the shift away from the 19b-4 pathway. Canary, for instance, withdrew its application for the LTC ETF on Sep. 25.
Nevertheless, analysts were largely unfazed by the lack of immediate action.
“We are uncertain about what’s happening at this exact moment. That said — we do still think they’ll launch in the near future,” Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart said in an earlier post.
Meanwhile, fellow ETF analyst Eric Balchunas has framed the situation as more of a “rain delay,” likely suggesting that a decision is expected to come once the SEC regains full operational capacity.
Litecoin price remains in an uptrend
In line with the broader market sentiment that the ETF launch is still viewed as inevitable, and with the current highly bullish environment across digital assets, LTC price continued to trade above major support levels near a two-month high of $122.36 after dipping less than 1% in the past 24 hours at press time.
Litecoin has been in a steady uptrend since the start of the month on ETF hopes, and the slight correction today is most likely a routine consolidation rather than a signal of a broader reversal.
According to analysts at crypto.news, if Litecoin price manages to break past the resistance zone around $121, it could open the door for a run higher. At press time, it was trading slightly below that mark at $117.76 after retesting that level earlier in the day.
