U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler declined to preemptively reveal the agency's decision on Ethereum spot ETFs, advising observers to “wait and see.”
Around 4 a.m. on May 24, Vietnam time, we will hear about the SEC's Ethereum ETF decision.
Although he reiterated that the court's decision on ETFs had caused his agency to "shift" in its thinking, when asked by CoinDesk on Thursday what the agency was preparing to do in response. Specific applications in this anticipated cryptocurrency decision, he largely avoided.
“I have nothing to say about this application,” Gensler said outside the Investment Company Institute event in Washington.
“We work within the law and the way the courts interpret the law, and that's something I'm deeply committed to,” he said, after noting on stage at the event that the agency had responded to the law. responds to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals decision rejecting the SEC's approach to spot Bitcoin ETFs earlier this year.
The SEC, after weeks of silence, abruptly asked exchanges supporting spot Ether ETF applications to refile their 19b-4 forms with uniform language earlier this week. Those forms were filed with the SEC on Tuesday, and exchanges began publishing them online that night.
The SEC also appears to have begun engaging with potential issuers, with companies like Fidelity and Grayscale re-filing 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 Thursday.
Based on these filings, it appears the SEC is uncomfortable with the idea that ETF issuers can stake any assets. Industry members previously told CoinDesk that while the SEC's moves this week do not guarantee approval of ETFs, they do increase the likelihood that ETFs will be approved.
“The DC Circuit Court of Appeals took a different view, and we looked at that and reversed,” Gensler said on Thursday.
Gensler also reiterated on Thursday that his agency will continue to work on opposition to the FIT21 cryptocurrency bill that was passed by the House of Representatives on Wednesday.
“We will continue to participate,” he said. “This is an area where token operators – without prejudging anyone – are not providing information that investors can actually benefit from and is required by law.”
“We have seen leaders in this field on the path to prison or extradition,” he added.
And when asked about Congress seeking to reverse the SEC's cryptocurrency accounting policy, Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 121 (SAB 121), he argued that the agency considered it guidance at a time when failed cryptocurrency companies must treat customer assets as their own in bankruptcy.
“The cryptocurrency that these companies said they received in custody actually became part of the bankruptcy assets,” Gensler said. “That's something we addressed in 2022,” he added, saying it was just an accounting announcement.
Source: https://tapchibitcoin.io/chu-tich-gensler-talk-hay-cho-see-ve-quyet-dinh-cua-sec-doi-voi-etf-ehereum.html