Brian Daly, head of the US Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) Division of Investment Management, acknowledged that the agency mishandled its review of spot crypto ETFs.
SEC Signals ETF Review Reset After Crypto Court Losses
3 July 2026 - 05:36 CEST
By Oihyun Kim
He cited that failure as the reason the regulator is proceeding cautiously on the next wave of novel ETF products, including future digital-asset filings. Pending Solana (SOL), XRP and basket crypto ETF applications face review under the same framework the SEC's request for comment (RFC) process is reshaping.
Comment first this time
Speaking on Bloomberg's Trillions podcast on 1 Jul, Daly said the SEC "did a bad job. We got sued" over spot Bitcoin ETFs, adding that the agency broke trust with the industry and is working to rebuild it.
The remarks came a day after the SEC announced the RFC on novel ETFs on 30 Jun. The RFC covers crypto assets, prediction-market ETFs, leveraged strategies, single-stock products and private-asset funds. Daly said the SEC wants a consistent, asset-neutral review process.
The previous case-by-case approach ended in court defeats. In August 2023, the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit ruled in favour of asset manager Grayscale, finding the SEC had no consistent basis for approving Bitcoin futures ETFs while rejecting spot Bitcoin ETFs. The SEC then cleared 11 spot Bitcoin ETFs in January 2024.
For crypto issuers with filings in the queue, the shift means asset-neutral review but no accelerated path while the comment period runs.
Filings pipeline widens
Daly cited roughly 2,600 ETF filings in 2025, with just over 1,000 listings. So far this year, 1,800 filings have been submitted, running about 50% ahead of last year. He flagged concern that prediction-market products tied to individual congressional races could yield thousands of near-identical applications, straining review capacity.
The 60-day comment window runs from Federal Register publication, after which the SEC's next move will show whether pending crypto ETF applications face accelerated timelines, new conditions or continued case-by-case treatment.
