SEC will ‘apply precedent’ when making decision on spot ether ETFs: Peirce

Securities and Exchange Commission Commissioner Hester Peirce believes that spot ether ETFs won’t need a court battle to get an approval.

When asked by Coinage Media if the SEC will hold off on approving spot bitcoin ETFs until a court case is pushed through the legal system, Peirce said, “that’s not how we’re going to do our approvals.”

“We need to just be applying regular [consideration] to these products. The same kind of consideration that we apply to similar products and, so, we shouldn’t need a court to tell us that our approach is arbitrary and capricious in order for us to get it right,” she said. 

Read more: Commissioner statements on bitcoin ETF approvals signal contention among SEC leaders

Her comments come just weeks after the SEC formally approved nearly a dozen spot bitcoin ETFs. While the move wasn’t a total surprise to some — between an attacker seizing the SEC’s X account to make a false post claiming that the agency issued approvals and the aforementioned Grayscale court ruling — it left the fate of the spot ether ETFs in the air. 

BlackRock, Ark 21Shares and Grayscale have thrown their hats in the ring for a spot ether ETF. Grayscale, similarly to what happened with its spot bitcoin ETF, is trying to convert its Ethereum Trust into an ETF.

However, SEC Chair Gary Gensler, in his statement about spot bitcoin ETF approvals, didn’t seem so sold on further approvals.

Read more: Senator Warren: SEC is ‘wrong on the law’ approving bitcoin ETFs

“Importantly, today’s commission action is cabined to ETPs holding one non-security commodity, bitcoin,” Gensler said. “It should in no way signal the Commission’s willingness to approve listing standards for crypto asset securities.”

Peirce, however, said, “We squandered a decade of opportunities to do our job. If we had applied the standard we use for other commodity-based ETPs, we could have approved these products years ago, but we refused to do so until a court called our bluff.”

Peirce is known for being outspoken when it comes to her thoughts on the SEC’s approach to crypto. When it comes to the agency’s approach to regulation through enforcement, she once said, “there doesn’t seem to be a rhyme or reason for a lot of cases we bring.”

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