Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler suggested Wednesday that the regulator’s decision to approve a spot Bitcoin ETF does not necessarily indicate how it will respond to Ethereum in the future.
“What we did in January was grouped into one set of documents,” Gensler told CNBC. “We have other documents in front of us… but we’re not going to prejudge it for you or the audience. It’s discussed and reviewed by a committee of five,” Gensler told CNBC.
large companies such as fidelity and black stone There have been applications for a spot Ethereum ETF over the past few months in hopes that the SEC will approve such a product, following last month’s approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF. cryptocurrency expert There have been mixed opinions on whether a spot Ethereum ETF will get approval soon, but some believe SEC approval could come as early as May.
Gensler, meanwhile, has repeatedly insisted that the agency he leads is “merit neutral.”
“We approved about 11 groups at once,” he said, referring to spot Bitcoin ETFs. “This is not the first way to buy Bitcoin or express risk, but as we like to say, we are merit-neutral.”
“This was nothing like Bitcoin acceptance,” he continued.
not a warranty
Gensler voted to approve a listed spot Bitcoin product a month ago. He said at the time that he did not support Bitcoin, and he added that it was time to move on following the recent court ruling.
The approval also comes just months after three judges were removed from the D.C. courthouse. rule during the summer The SEC was forced to reexamine Grayscale Investments’ bid for a spot Bitcoin ETF. Gensler has been critical of cryptocurrencies in the past and said many cryptocurrencies are securities.
A host on CNBC’s Squawk Box questioned Gensler’s statement that the agency is value neutral and suggested that the court case could have potentially forced the SEC’s hand.
Gensler said of this, “If someone complies with the law, we’re value-neutral. So they’re providing full, fair and truthful disclosure to the American public, who gets to make their own investment decisions.”
Gensler later added, “We have a responsibility at the SEC to educate investors, particularly regarding investments that do not comply with securities laws or other commodity laws.”
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