Ethereum ETF update: Speaking at Bloomberg Invest, CFTC chairman Gary Gensler says the application is ‘going well’
Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler denied being impatient when fielding questions from reporters about crypto, including his agency’s handling of requests to launch an Ethereum ETF. Speaking to reporter Annmarie Hoordern at the Bloomberg Invest event in New York on Tuesday, Gensler accused his interlocutor of following a “clicker” after asking him several questions related to crypto policy.
The issue of cryptocurrency ETFs has been contentious during Gensler’s SEC tenure, particularly when an appeals court last year overturned the agency’s decision to reject Bitcoin ETF applications. The court’s decision led the SEC to approve those requests for Bitcoin in January and, despite the first indications from Gensler that requests for Ethereum would be reduced, the latter agency indicated that it would grant them.
The agency’s change of heart has led to continued speculation about how long the program will take. Despite his complaints, Gensler—a well-known crypto opponent—offered few details.
“I don’t know the time, but it’s going well.” He revealed that his team is waiting for the property managers to “disclose what is right.”
Gensler’s comments came after an SEC filing from this spring suggested the agency may have adopted the position that Ethereum was a security for more than a year.
Gensler also made a point to clarify that the Ethereum futures trading ETF has already been approved. Last October, the SEC approved the futures ETF applications of Valkyrie Investments, Valkyrie Funds, Proshares, Bitwise Asset Management, and five others. The pending ETF applications will provide investors with direct asset exposure through a regulated exchange.
Once heralded as a proponent of crypto by many who saw his tenure teaching a course on the subject at MIT as confirmation, Gensler has fallen hard on the industry over the past few years. Last year alone, the regulator brought 46 enforcement actions against crypto-related firms, according to a Bloomberg report.
Gensler has put together 11 bitcoin ETFs that the SEC has approved this year, which currently trade on regulated markets, with what he calls a “non-compliant model,” or an exchange that intentionally trades non-compliant securities. “It’s about real protection for investors and other people who want to access the financial markets,” Gensler said. It’s about trust in those markets.”
Gensler declined to answer a question about reports that his stance on crypto could cost Joe Biden, his nominee, the election. “My priority is the American public,” Gensler said. “That’s the client, so that’s what we stand for.”
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