Gary Gensler: the SEC has never claimed that BTC and ETH are securities

What’s new? The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) “never claimed” that bitcoin and Ethereum are securities, has said in an interview with Yahoo Finance preparing to retire chairman Gary Gensler. The official emphasized that neither he nor his predecessor Jay Clayton made any such assertions.

Material by Yahoo Finance

What else is known? However, Gensler added that due to the specifics of his job, he could not unequivocally state that the two tokens were not securities.

Gensler will step down on January 20, following the inauguration of Donald Trump and the arrival of a cryptocurrency-friendly administration. During his leadership, the SEC brought numerous lawsuits against crypto firms for violating securities laws while refusing to issue guidance for the industry.

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The regulator also sent pre-trial complaints to firms interacting with the Ethereum Foundation NPO. Ethereum blockchain software company Consensys then sued the SEC and claimed that the agency’s former director of enforcement approved an initiative to launch an investigation into Ethereum 2.0 in 2023.

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This is what the blockchain is called after the transition from the Proof of Work (PoW) consensus algorithm to Proof of Stake (PoS) in September 2022. Notably, in 2023, Gensler allowed all PoS tokens to be recognized as securities.

Lawmakers also asked Gensler to clarify whether ETH is a security. Former House Financial Services Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry demanded more clarity from Gensler on this issue back during the April 2023 hearing.

Despite the lack of a clear answer, the SEC approved trading of bitcoin-based spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in January 2024, and in July allowed similar Ethereum-based products to market.

However, the regulator did not allow ETF issuers to put ETH purchased on behalf of investors into staking, which would have brought additional returns.

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In a new interview, Gensler said the launch of exchange-traded crypto products has increased investor protection through lower fees, oversight, and disclosure requirements.