The political landscape could influence how the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) handles crypto-related policies as the 2024 elections approach, according to ConsenSys senior advisors.
Speaking to Cointelegraph at the Consensus Conference in Austin on May 29, Bill Hughes, ConsenSys senior advisor and director of global regulatory affairs, said it was still unclear whether the evolving political landscape and regulatory in the United States could have an impact on the lawsuit filed by the company. SEC on Ethereum (ETH). Over the past 30 days, lawmakers have introduced legislation calling for regulatory clarity at the Securities and Exchange Commission. The commission approved the placement of exchange-traded funds for the first time, and digital assets were part of the pre-election actions of presidential candidates for both major parties.
“The impact that this will have on the open investigations (conducted by the SEC) and their theories on what is or is not considered a securities offering from their point of view remains to be determined,” Hughes said, referring to the approval of Ethereum. AND F. “We believe this is a fundamentally positive development and one that should not be controversial at all. »
In April, Consensys filed a lawsuit against the SEC and its five commissioners in Texas over allegations that they were considering “regulating ETH as a security.” The company said it received a Wells Notice from the Commission, warning of possible enforcement actions related to the MetaMask Swaps and MetaMask Scking products.
However, the lawsuit occurred before the SEC approved 19b-4 filings for several asset managers seeking to list and trade Ethereum ETFs on U.S. exchanges, suggesting that the SEC widely recognized Ethereum as merchandise. The Consensys filings included statements from SEC Chairman Gary Gensler and SEC Enforcement Division Chief Gurbir Grewal who agreed to conduct a formal investigation into Ethereum as assurance.
“The political landscape is changing, and the full impact of that on committee decisions and staff work has yet to be seen,” Hughes said. “The real question is what the president and his fellow Democrats might be thinking today that wasn’t the case two weeks ago.”
A Consensys advisor speculated on SEC actions:
“I don’t expect a wave of rule proposals like the ones the industry has been proposing for years. “(Approving spot ether ETFs) might be the only thing they do that is less hostile to cryptocurrencies than they normally would.”
about: Securities and Exchange Commission closes regional office after judge dismisses debt fund case
Lawmakers in the U.S. Senate will likely consider the Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act, or FIT21, within a year of its passage by the House. The bill would clarify the SEC’s role in digital assets, providing the CFTC with a way to regulate many tokens as commodities.
“We always believed that politics — maybe not outside the SEC, but within the SEC — fueled the decision to dictate certain policy choices,” Hughes said. “But if there are outside pressures on certain policy approaches that influence decision-makers at the Securities and Exchange Commission … how will these pressures take root in the various departments so far?”
On June 5, Chairman Gensler suggested that the SEC “will take some time” to greenlight S-1 registration statements from asset managers applying for Ethereum ETFs – the final step before exchanges can rate the instruments. ETF analyst Eric Balchunas predicted that the launch date for Ethereum spot ETFs in the United States would be July 4.
review: Godzilla vs. Kong: SEC Faces Uphill Battle Over Legal Power of Cryptocurrencies
