Republican Representative William Timmons has requested that US Securities and Exchange Commission chair Paul Atkins provide documents detailing the agency’s historical perspective on Ether under the leadership of Gary Gensler during the Biden administration.
In a letter on Tuesday, Timmons asked Atkins for “specific documents” concerning the SEC’s “historical views on the status” of Ether (ETH), arguing that this information would help the public and Congress better understand the former leadership’s approach.
“Under prior leadership the SEC refused to articulate a consistent, coherent view on how it believed the securities laws apply to digital assets. Its zigzagging approach to ETH is a case in point,” the letter stated.
Gensler “cast doubt” on ETH as chair
Timmons pointed out that in 2018, the SEC’s then-director of corporate finance, William Hinman, indicated that the agency would not classify Bitcoin (BTC) or ETH as securities.
However, he claimed that Gensler, as chair, “cast doubt on ETH’s status by repeatedly refusing to answer questions about whether the SEC views ETH as a security” during a congressional hearing in April 2023.
“As would later be revealed, days before that testimony the SEC had approved a formal investigation into whether ETH is a security,” Timmons wrote.
A year later, the SEC approved Ether exchange-traded funds, which Timmons argued “would be appropriate only if ETH is not a security,” and the SEC concluded its probe into ETH “a few weeks later.”
“These repeated swerves caused destabilizing confusion for millions of American crypto-market participants,” he added.
Letter adds to Coinbase FOIA action
Timmons’ letter follows a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request backed by crypto exchange Coinbase in 2023, which asked the SEC for documents about its views on ETH.
The SEC denied the request, leading Coinbase to sue the SEC over alleged FOIA violations in June 2024.
A judge later ordered the SEC to disclose certain documents, thousands of which Coinbase posted online, one of which shows that prosecutors in New York unsuccessfully asked the SEC for its opinion on ETH.