Odaily Planet Daily News: U.S. SEC Chairman Gary Gensler said on Wednesday that when spot ETFs linked to the cryptocurrency Ethereum will begin trading depends largely on how quickly the issuers respond to SEC inquiries. The SEC approved applications from Nasdaq, CBOE and NYSE to list spot Ethereum ETFs last month. This is an unexpected victory for the cryptocurrency industry, which had expected the SEC to reject the applications after meetings with regulators. Before the ETF begins trading, the SEC must still approve the ETF issuer's registration statement, which details the disclosure of information to investors. This process usually involves a lot of exchanges between ETF issuers and SEC officials. He said, "These registrants will take the initiative to respond to the comments received, but the extent of the response is actually up to them." Gensler declined to say whether he thought the process would take weeks or months. Gensler and SEC officials have not previously commented on why the SEC made a U-turn and approved the application for a spot Ethereum ETF, but he said on Wednesday that the lawsuit filed by Grayscale last year that forced the SEC to approve a spot Bitcoin ETF in January influenced the SEC's view on Ethereum. Grayscale successfully argued at the time that the SEC had previously approved an ETF tied to Bitcoin futures, so it should also approve a spot Bitcoin ETF because Bitcoin futures prices are highly correlated with spot prices. Gensler said the cases are similar because the futures Ethereum ETF has been trading since last year. SEC staff "looked at the filings and looked at various correlations...which are relatively similar to the correlations in the Bitcoin space." The SEC approved the spot Bitcoin ETF in January of this year after the court ruled in Grayscale's favor last year. Gensler acknowledged the court's decision in a statement at the time, adding that he believed approving the products was the "most sustainable path forward." The SEC has been rejecting Bitcoin ETFs for a decade. “But the court ruled otherwise. We adjusted,” Gensler said. However, he added that he still believes the cryptocurrency space is “rife with fraud, scams and conflicts.”(Golden Ten)