Gary Gensler, the Chief of the Securities and Exchange Commission, recently asserted that the review process of Ethereum ETFs has been going on smoothly.
However, that has not changed his stance with respect to this asset class. Answering questions at the Bloomberg Invest conference in New York on Tuesday, he said that much of crypto is “built up on a business model that is a non-compliant model.” Furthermore, he believes that “the public has really been harmed” by the industry’s excesses.
The commission’s chief stayed away from elaborating on a timeline for the release of the aforementioned products in the US. He said, "I don't know the timing.”
Several asset managers amended their registration documents last week. Bitwise, for instance, disclosed that Pantera Capital is interested in a bulk purchase of around $100 million worth of Ether shares.
Gensler said,
"It's really about the asset managers making the full disclosure so that those registration statements can go effective.”
Speculating the launch date based on the latest filings, Eric Balchunas, Bloomberg’s senior ETF analyst said,
“VanEck just filed [its] 8-A form for spot ETH, which is just part of [the] process, but.. should be noted that they filed their 8-A for spot Bitcoin exactly 7 days before launch. Good sign for our July 2nd over/under (7 days from now). But again, anything is possible. Sure we'll hear more soon.”
Speaking at the conference, Gensler underlined that some “tokens” that investors are buying are actually securities. He asserted that the public is not getting the required disclosures. The recent prosecutions of several exchange executives underline how dangerous the industry has become. He added,
“This is a field that the leading lights a couple of years ago are either in jail, about to go to jail, or awaiting extradition.”
In other related news, upcoming presidential election contender Donald Trump is reportedly in talks to speak at Bitcoin 2024 in Nashville.
Trump could join the event alongside other speakers including Michael Saylor, Edward Snowden, Cathie Wood, Robert F Kennedy Jr., Vivek Ramaswamy, Bill Hagerty, and Marsha Blackburn.
