Policy • March 8, 2024, 1:21PM EST
Published 1 minute earlier on
Quick Take
- SEC Chair Gary Gensler is not giving any hints on whether the agency might approve spot Ethereum ETFs.
- Big name firms including BlackRock and Fidelity filed for spot Ethereum ETFs in November and have since been followed by Franklin Templeton, Ark 21Shares, VanEck and Grayscale.
Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler is not giving any clues yet on whether the agency will approve spot Ethereum "I don't want to prejudge any one filing, and as you said, there's 10 filings in front of us," Gensler said. "So news alert, I'm not going to prejudge that. But to your question, we look at the facts and circumstances and that which was in front of us." Big name firms including BlackRock and Fidelity filed for spot Ethereum ETFs in November and have since been followed by Franklin Templeton, Ark 21Shares, VanEck and Grayscale. Some experts have been optimistic that the SEC could approve a spot Ethereum ETF given that ether futures ETFs already trade and say Grayscale's win against the SEC in court last year could tip the scales. Gensler, who has said in the past that most cryptocurrencies are securities and has called for firms to register with the SEC, said the "whole crypto field has challenges," during Friday's interview with YahooFinance. "The whole field is rife with abuses and fraud," said Gensler. "Look at the series of bankruptcies in 2022 and 2023 when investors weren't getting the proper disclosures from the middle of the market, the intermediaries. By the way, for the viewing public, this is not that decentralized." Intermediaries are pulling together investors' assets and not giving "the proper disclosures," he said. "They're doing things that we would never allow the New York Stock Exchange to do." Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures. © 2023 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
ETH
+2.36%
exchange-traded funds. Not so decentralized
About Author
Sarah is a reporter at The Block covering policy, regulation and legal happenings. Before, Sarah was a reporter with CQ Legal writing about securities regulation, which is where she first started reporting on crypto. Sarah has also written for The Bond Buyer and American Banker, among other finance-related publications. She graduated from the University of Missouri and earned a degree in print and digital journalism. Sarah is based in Washington D.C., and is an avid coffee lover. You can follow her on Twitter @ForTheWynn.
More by Sarah Wynn
