SEC’s Gensler Shrugs About New Crypto ETFs Strolling Through His Agency’s Gates

Ethereum has ticked the box for an exchange-traded fund after years of trading as futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Gary Gensler told CNBC on Wednesday.

The SEC chairman remained vague on exactly when the industry might see the next major crypto token wrapped in ETFs.

Approval of new exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for Ethereum’s ether {{ETH}} comes after the regulator previously approved spot bitcoin ETFs, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler suggested twice on Wednesday. is the logical next step.

Despite the crypto industry’s widespread belief that Gensler’s SEC plans to block the ETH spot ETF before reversing course and granting the first round of applications, the agency’s head described the ongoing approval process as if it were a routine matter. He repeats himself in two separate interviews, on CNBC and on the sidelines of an International Association of Exchanges and Derivatives/Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association event.

“Ethereum had been traded in Chicago Mercantile Exchange futures contracts for over three years. Staff looked at it closely and it was approved,” Gensler said in the television interview. said. “Now, exchange-traded products (ETPs) still have to go through a process to make disclosures about this. It’s going to take some time, but they’re working on it right now.”

He later told reporters that SEC staff “approved bitcoin exchange-traded products because we approved them at the commission level four months ago” of ETF applicants’ 19b-4 forms.

Their updates did not reflect the drama surrounding this pivotal moment for the digital assets industry, which would follow the January approval of previous bitcoin spot ETFs that redefined {{BTC}}’s status as a trading asset. But Gensler’s tone also echoes another recent speech in which he noted that the regulator’s hand is being forced when it comes to such ETF approvals after the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Grayscale against the SEC.

“We do this according to the law and how the courts interpret the law, and I’m deeply committed to that,” Gensler said two weeks ago, after stating onstage at the event that the agency was trying to comply. he said. by court decision.

This position suggests that the SEC will approve ETH ETFs from the beginning, just like BTC.

And despite Gensler’s seemingly optimistic statement about the current process for ETH applications, his comments still left one important question hanging: He said it “will take some time,” but when might that final approval come? The definitive answer seems unclear so far.

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Some expect funds to emerge this month or next month that will hold actual ETH directly and can be easily traded at any time, just like other ETFs.

Securities disclosures

Alongside his apparent openness regarding ETF filings, Gensler on Wednesday reiterated his usual warnings about the crypto industry and the lack of required public disclosure.

He said on CNBC that most tokens “don’t just give you the ability to make your investment decisions but also don’t give you the disclosures required by law.”

When asked by reporters if he personally believes Ethereum is a security, he pointed out that entrepreneurs and executives speak at conferences to promote their projects (while maintaining his usual refusal to talk about a specific asset).

“These are indicative of a security,” he said, reiterating his earlier statement regarding legally required disclosures. “Furthermore, you have so-called crypto exchanges that combine and aggregate functions where you, the investors, do not have the proper protections by Congress laid out in law.”

As a result, the industry faced various bankruptcies and frauds, he said.

While Gensler said the Satoshi Nakamoto bitcoin whitepaper could be “innovative,” Gensler said: “This is a very centralized, under-visioned space, with only a small handful of crypto tools out there, the Nakamoto vision, you’re trusting your money, your assets.”

Read More: Is SEC’s Gensler Fraud in Solo Mission to Stop U.S. Crypto Regulation?