Timmons Demands SEC's Ethereum Records
Rep. Timmons Demands SEC Documents on Ethereum
Republican Representative William Timmons has formally requested that SEC Chair Paul Atkins provide documents detailing the agency's approach to Ether (ETH) under the previous leadership of Gary Gensler. In a letter dated Tuesday, Rep. Timmons specifically requested documentation outlining the SEC's historical views on ETH's regulatory status.
Rep. Timmons argues that this information is crucial for public understanding and Congressional oversight, criticizing the SEC's perceived inconsistency in its treatment of ETH. He points to the conflicting statements made by previous officials.
Gensler's Actions Questioned
The letter highlights a discrepancy between a 2018 statement by then-director of corporate finance William Hinman, who declared that the SEC wouldn't classify Bitcoin (BTC) or ETH as securities, and Gensler's subsequent actions. Rep. Timmons asserts that Gensler's repeated refusal to clarify the SEC's stance on ETH during an April 2023 hearing, followed by the SEC's approval of an investigation into ETH's security status, created significant uncertainty.
Further fueling Rep. Timmons' concerns is the SEC's later approval of Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs), a decision that he argues implies ETH is not a security. The SEC subsequently closed its investigation into ETH a few weeks later. This series of events, according to Rep. Timmons, generated significant instability in the crypto market.
Coinbase FOIA Lawsuit
Rep. Timmons' letter comes in the wake of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed by Coinbase in 2023 and the subsequent lawsuit filed by Coinbase against the SEC in June 2024, after the SEC denied the request. A judge's order compelling the SEC to release certain documents has shed further light on the matter, revealing that New York prosecutors also sought the SEC's opinion on ETH, without success.
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