SEC Chairman Gary Gensler Approval for Ethereum ETFs Next Stage Still Requires Some Time

Gary Gensler, Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), made a series of comments related to the cryptocurrency market today on CNBC. Regarding the recent approval of Ethereum spot ETFs, Gensler stated that the next step in the approval process (the S-1 filing) will take some time. Fox reporter Eleanor Terrett suggested that this may imply a slow approval process for the S-1, meaning that Ethereum spot ETFs will take longer to be listed for trading. However, this could also be seen as a positive sign, as it indicates that the SEC is still advancing the work on the S-1 filings rather than outright rejecting them.

Furthermore, Alexander Grieve, Public Policy Lead at venture capital firm Paradigm, pointed out that Gensler modified his previous stance during the interview, shifting from “all tokens are securities” to “tokens lack proper disclosure”. This seems to suggest that Gensler’s tough stance on cryptocurrencies may have softened.

When commenting on the cryptocurrency market, Gensler also noted that traditional financial securities exchanges are regulated, do not act as counterparties to investors, and that cryptocurrency exchanges are doing things that New York Stock Exchange or traditional exchanges are never allowed to do.