Gary Gensler Still Won't Say ETH is a Commodity

SEC Chair Gary Gensler participated in a Senate budget hearing this morning at which he was asked to give a direct answer on Ether’s commodity status.

What’s the scoop?

• Evasive Answer: When directly asked to give a “yes” or “no” response to the question of whether ETH is a commodity, Gensler responds that his agency has approved 19b-4 rule change filings for spot ETH ETFs from stock exchanges, but that individual issuers were still working through the S-1 registration forms from issuers. His agency expects to receive finalized versions of these forms sometime this summer.
• CFTC Clarity: Also present at this hearing was Commodities Future Trading Commission (CFTC) Chair Rostin Behnam, who responded with a simple affirmation that ETH is indeed a commodity.

Bankless Take:

Although Gensler refuses to provide an answer as to whether Ether is a commodity or if pending spot ETH ETFs will be listed for trading, it appears clear that the SEC is set to approve the instruments in the coming weeks on the rationale that Ether is a commodity.

Despite his evasiveness to the questioning, Gensler expounds that the SEC has already approved futures ETFs based on CME traded commodity futures, that approval of S-1 is a staff decision that simply hinges on these filings containing the correct disclosures, and that the Commission has previously approved ETH exchange traded products.