Gensler Provides an Update on Ethereum ETF

“This is an innovative industry. It’s an industry that the United States should be leading on.” Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) complains about the US SEC’s lack of clarity as Gary Gansler testifies before the Senate.

The head of the US SEC, Gary Gensler, has recently shared some positive updates for the crypto community regarding the review of spot Ethereum ETFs. Addressing a crowd at Bloomberg Invest, Gensler shared that reviewing various Ethereum ETF applications is ongoing without any concerns. Speaking to the Financial Times in a separate interview, he suggested that these funds, which will mimic the live price of Ethereum’s currency, ETH, are almost ready to roll out.

Gensler’s positive remarks came after informing a Senate subcommittee that the agency would have the green light by the summer. This comes in the backdrop of the SEC approving a major regulatory change that opens the door for these ETFs to be listed on exchanges. Currently, the SEC is still in the regular process of communicating with the issuers regarding their S-1 disclosure statements.  

The regulatory change, known as the 19b-4 rule, focuses on fraud and investor protection—matters that have previously held back the approval of similar bitcoin ETFs. These have since grossed $14,4 billion in only six months.

In his recent appearances, Gensler continued expressing his concerns about the risks of investing in cryptocurrencies.  

"There are a lot of folks that are not living within our securities laws," Gensler said. "This is a field that's sort of built up on a non-complaint model. And it's not ticky tacky. It's about real protections for investors and for other people that want access to the capital markets."

Gensler also blamed the crypto industry for lacking proper transparency through public disclosures of projects, the individuals involved, and potential conflicts of interest, considering that the industry is flooded with scams and frauds.

The price of ETH did not change significantly on Wednesday and hovered around $3,365; however, as shown by BitDelta charts, the cryptocurrency has lost more than 6% over the past week due to the overall decline in the crypto market.

Gary Gensler Testifies Before the US Senate Over Crypto

Gary Gensler recently testified before the US Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services. This session discussed the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) budget requests for 2025.

In this meeting, Gensler explained cryptocurrency and how the approval process works for spot Ethereum exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) asked Gensler why it has not fully approved these ETFs, particularly after a court ruling that challenged the SEC’s rationale for not approving spot bitcoin ETFs.

“We actually, as an agency, did approve ethereum exchange-traded products,” Gensler told Hagerty.  

However, the lawmaker reminded the SEC head that the approval was only partial. Gensler insisted that the institution he leads has approved the “filings that were in front of us from stock exchanges,” adding, “I think there were eight or nine of them.” According to him:  

“Individual issuers still are working through the registration process. That’s working smoothly, and I would envision sometime over the course of this summer…”

In May, the SEC allowed preliminary applications for eight spot ether ETFs. However, they have yet to entirely endorse the last registrations necessary for their launch. When Hagerty asked Gensler for a more specific time frame on when these ETFs would be fully approved, Gensler said, “The final approvals are done by our staff in the disclosure and registration department. ” Gensler noted that the registration documents must be accurate before they can be approved.

Hagerty also accused the SEC of lacking sufficient funding and guidelines for the crypto market. He argued,  

“You’re not prioritizing staff, and you’re not prioritizing rulemaking for areas that desperately need it,” he said, adding: “Here I’m talking about setting in place a constructive set of rules of the road for the crypto industry.” He continued, “This is an innovative industry. It’s an industry that the United States should be leading on. Yet, other jurisdictions and other countries are setting up rules for their ecosystems.”

Hagerty complained about the lack of clarity from the SEC and the CFTC, saying that this stifles the innovative crypto industry and forces it to relocate.