Ethereum
Bloomberg Analyst Requests FOIA Request in SEC Ethereum ETF Decision
Bloomberg ETF Analyst James Seyffart called for Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests regarding the SEC’s approval of the spot Ethereum AND F.
In a June 5 KITCO interview, Seyffart said public inquiries should seek “emails, calls, [and] anyone who has had conversations with [SEC chair] Gary Gensler” to determine what happened during the SEC’s decision-making process.
He said unused refusal orders may exist due to the agency’s rapid change in position.
The vote is not clear
Seyffart said the SEC approved Ethereum spot ETFs through delegated authority, a common approach but a rare choice for the issue at hand.
Delegated authority also means voting records are unclear.
Seyffart said the choice indicates a politically motivated decision, stating:
“Until someone came along and showed me irrefutable evidence…it was political.”
Seyffart said the “main theory” is that a member of the Biden administration called the SEC chairman. Gary Gensler and influenced the agency’s decision.
A secondary theory posits that someone swung the vote of a Democratic SEC commissioner who had previously voted against Bitcoin spot ETFs. The reverse vote could have led to the SEC voting at least 3-2 in favor of Ethereum spot ETFs even if Gensler had voted against the funds.
It is still possible for a commissioner to challenge the decision and force a vote. However, Seyffart said Democratic commissioners are unlikely to gain anything from making the vote transparent.
He once said that a challenge was unlikely to influence the actual results of the vote.
The SEC should be less political
Seyffart also discussed the broader impact of politics on the SEC. He argued that the SEC should not be completely apolitical but less political than it currently is.
Seyffart believes that, until recently, the SEC decided to deny spot crypto ETFs and then sought legal justification for its position.
Instead, the president should choose which issues the agency focuses on and seek legal advice from each commissioner, leading to a decision “based on logic and reason,” Seyffart said.