SEC funding lapse delays crypto ETF reviews for Litecoin, Solana

A lapse in federal funding this week has forced the Securities and Exchange Commission to operate with a sharply reduced workforce, leaving multiple pending spot cryptocurrency exchange traded fund applications in regulatory limbo and creating uncertainty about when the agency will act on listings for assets including Litecoin and Solana. The agency moved to its contingency operations plan after lawmakers failed to pass a stopgap spending measure, directing most nonessential staff to secure work and prepare for a rapid restart when funding is restored.

The SEC said that "on the first workday of a lapse in appropriations, nonexcepted staff will engage in activities to shut down their respective operations, to secure their workstations and work materials, and to prepare for the rapid restart of operations when funding is renewed." Under the plan, the agency will maintain only a small number of employees and will not conduct routine reviews of registration statements, nonemergency rulemaking, or most enforcement and oversight activities. The EDGAR electronic filing system will remain operational and will accept submissions.

That scaled-back posture complicates a transitional...