In a filing published Thursday, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said it is “instituting proceedings” to decide whether Nasdaq should be allowed to list and trade the proposed 21Shares SUI ETF. The move extends the review process and invites public feedback on the proposal.
The agency clarified that opening proceedings does not signal any conclusion but rather a step to gather more input. “The Commission seeks and encourages interested persons to provide comments on the proposed rule change,” it noted.
21Shares submitted its spot SUI ETF application on May 23, following an S-1 registration completed on April 30. If approved, the fund would track the price of SUI—the native token of the Sui blockchain—using a daily pricing benchmark from CF Benchmarks, with BitGo and Coinbase Custody serving as custodians.
The SEC had already extended its review window in July under Section 19(b)(2). With proceedings now underway and no objections filed during the initial comment period, the deadline has been pushed closer to the holiday season. The Commission has up to 240 days from the Federal Register’s June 10, 2025, publication date to issue a ruling, setting the final decision around December 21, 2025. An earlier decision in October remains possible, as the SEC considers multiple pending crypto ETF applications, including the Canary Spot PENGU ETF, Grayscale’s Spot Cardano Trust, Truth Social’s Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, and Solana-focused products from Bitwise, 21Shares, and Canary.
Despite the delay, Sui’s price was up 2.0% at press time.
Shifting Regulatory Landscape
The SEC’s extended timeline comes amid broader efforts to overhaul crypto regulation under President Donald Trump’s pro-crypto administration. Chairman Paul Atkins unveiled the Commission’s Spring 2025 regulatory agenda a day earlier, which aims to integrate crypto assets into the same framework as traditional markets. The plan would allow tokens to trade on national securities exchanges and alternative trading systems, moving away from the SEC’s long-criticized “regulation by enforcement” approach.
