Ethereum ETF process is ‘going smoothly,’ says SEC’s Gensler

The process of launching the first spot Ether ( ETH ) exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in the United States is “going smoothly,” says Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler.

Speaking at a June 25 Bloomberg conference , Gensler remained tight-lipped on when the ETFs could launch and deferred when asked if they could go live before the November U.S. elections.

“It’s really about the asset managers making the full disclosure so that those registration statements can go effective,” he said.

“What is in front of us — and it's done at a staff level — is what’s called the registration statements, the disclosure statements,” Gensler added. “Again, these disclosures are really important. They’re important to investors making investment decisions.”

The SEC approved 19b-4 filings from eight ETF bidders on May 23 but the asset managers are still making tweaks to their Form S-1’s — the final filings the SEC needs to approve before they go live for trading.

Analysts have predicted the SEC could approve the funds for trading as soon as next week — the first week of July.

“Nothing inconsistent” about securities laws

The U.S. crypto industry has raised millions and lobbied to make digital assets an election issue after facing a deluge of enforcement actions from the Gensler-led SEC.

Presidential hopeful Donald Trump said he would end what he called President Joe Biden’s “war on crypto,” and billionaire investor Mark Cuban claimed Gensler could “literally cost Joe Biden the election.”

Gensler said he doesn’t speak on elections when asked about Trump and Cuban’s comments.

“We have a set of rules that are pretty clear. There’s nothing inconsistent about crypto securities and the securities laws,” he added. “Unfortunately, there’s a number of people that are non-compliant with the laws.”

Gary Gensler, chair of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, says "there's nothing inconsistent about crypto securities and the securities laws," but he does say they are still being broken https://t.co/518XPTe1fq pic.twitter.com/CtvqUOpSfR

— Bloomberg TV (@BloombergTV) June 25, 2024

Related: South Korean think tank cautions against crypto ETFs

Gensler said there were up to 20,000 crypto tokens that he claimed were investment contracts — a type of security under U.S. law — which were not giving the “proper disclosure” to American investors.

“This is a field that the leading lights from a couple of years ago are either in jail, about to go to jail, or are awaiting extradition,” he said.

"This is a field where the leading lights from a couple of years ago are either in jail, about to go to jail, or awaiting extradition." @SECGov Chair @GaryGensler #BloombergInvest @annmarie pic.twitter.com/KP6kyzwHTk

— Bloomberg Live (@BloombergLive) June 25, 2024

“We’re bringing that in front of courts, and those will play out because folks that are not complying with the law hurt the American public,” he added.

On X, Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse slammed Gensler’s comments as “absolute nonsense,” claiming the SEC boss “completely missed FTX.”

“Gensler will cause Biden to lose the election."

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