Gary Gensler, the chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), declined to comment on whether the regulator would be considered. Ethereum SECURITY (SEC) to protect space Ethereum EFF considers many applications.
Speaking on Bloomberg TV, Gensler said he would “defer the question” when pressed on whether the regulator considers Ethereum a security.
“The facts and circumstances of investing in one of these crypto tokens is that the public expects profits based on other efforts,” he said. “We have the case files before us. I'm not going to comment.”
The SEC's stance on Ethereum has become critical as it deals with multiple applications. Just this week, the regulator again delayed its decision on approving the iShares Ethereum Trust from investment giant BlackRock after delaying Ethereum ETF applications from Fidelity, Invesco and Galaxy Digital.
Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seifert predicts the SEC will continue to delay a decision on Ethereum ETF applications until May 23, the filing deadline from VanEck and Kathy Wood investment firm Arch Invest.
If that's the case, approving spot Bitcoin ETFs follows the regulator's gradual walk.
In January, the regulator approved multi-location Bitcoin ETFs—but it did so only reluctantly, Gensler said, “but circumstances have changed,” after a court ordered the SEC to review Grayscale's application to convert its GBTC product into an ETF.
At that time, Gensler, in place of the approval of Bitcoin ETFs, “stressed that in no way does the Commission signal its willingness to approve detailed requirements for crypto assets.” He also added that “Investors should be careful about the numerous risks associated with Bitcoin and products whose value is tied to crypto.”
He reiterated this view in an interview on Wednesday, calling crypto “a very speculative asset class.”
“Are there cash flows or what is the use for these thousands of tokens?” Gensler asked. He added: “They can also be guarantees, because the invested public depends on the efforts of some group of entrepreneurs among these products.”
Gensler, SEC and Ethereum
Under Gensler, the SEC refused to comment on Ethereum's status, maintaining a long-standing view that Bitcoin is more of a commodity than a security.
Gensler's position on the SEC's reluctance to treat Ethereum as a security or commodity is contrary to statements he made before joining the regulator.
In the year In 2018, while still a lecturer at MIT, Gensler said that Ethereum is “not a security” in the eyes of the SEC. During the 2014 ICO, “In 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission said, “Regardless of what happened, it's decentralized enough now that we consider it safe.”
At the time, Gensler appeared to be referring to comments made by the SEC's former director of corporate finance, William Hinman, in his much-quoted “not enough decentralization” speech from June.
Edited by Stacy Elliott.
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