Blockchain
Gensler says “Stay tuned” to US SEC decision on ETH ETF
WASHINGTON, DC — U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler declined Thursday to preview his agency’s decision on ether (ETH) exchange-traded funds (ETFs), although he advised observers to “stay tuned.”
Although he reiterated that the court’s decision on ETFs has caused his agency to “pivot” its thinking, when CoinDesk asked him Thursday what the agency is preparing to do in response to specific inquiries about this long-awaited ETF decision cryptocurrencies, has largely demurred.
“I have nothing on this particular document,” Gensler said outside an Investment Company Institute event in Washington.
“We do this within the law and the way the courts interpret the law, and that is what I am deeply committed to,” he said, after noting on stage at the event that the agency had responded to the Court’s decision D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals rejecting the SEC’s approach to spot bitcoin (BTC) ETF earlier this year.
The SEC, after weeks of limited engagement, asked exchanges that support spot ether ETF applications to refile their Forms 19b-4 with universal language earlier this week. Those forms were submitted to the SEC by Tuesday and to exchanges began to publish them online that night. It also appears that the SEC has begun working with potential issuers themselves, as companies like Fidelity and Grayscale filed updated S-1 forms this week. The SEC must make a final decision on at least one spot ether ETF application by the end of the day Thursday.
Based on these forms, it appears that the SEC is uncomfortable with the idea that Ether ETF issuers can invest in any assets.
Industry Participants previously told CoinDesk that while the SEC’s moves this week don’t guarantee ETF approval, they make it more likely that ETFs will be approved.
“[The] DC Circuit had a different vision, and we took that into consideration and pivoted,” Gensler said Thursday.
Gensler also reiterated Thursday that his agency will continue to work on his opposition Cryptocurrency law passed Wednesday in the House of Representatives.
“We will continue to strive,” he said. “It is simply an area where token operators, without prejudice to any of them, are not providing the information that investors could truly benefit from and which is required by law.”
“We have seen leaders in this field find themselves on the path to prison or extradition,” he added.
And when asked about Congress trying to reverse his agency’s crypto accounting policyStaff Accounting Bulletin No. 121 (SAB 121), argued that the agency intended it as guidance at a time when failing crypto firms were forced to treat client assets the same as their own in the event of bankruptcy.
“The cryptocurrencies that these companies said they took into custody are actually part of the bankruptcy estate,” Gensler said. “This is what we were targeting in 2022,” he added, saying it was “just” an accounting bulletin.