Representative Timmons Asks For Docs On SEC’s Historical Ethereum Approach

Republican Representative William Timmons has asked US Securities and Exchange Commission chair Paul Atkins to turn over documents on the agency’s historical treatment of Ether under its Biden-era chair, Gary Gensler.

Timmons asked Atkins in a letter on Tuesday for “specific documents” on the SEC’s “historical views on the status” of Ether (ETH), which he argued will help the public and Congress 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 read.

Gensler “cast doubt” on ETH as chair

Timmons noted that in 2018, the SEC’s then-director of corporate finance, William Hinman, said the agency wouldn’t treat Bitcoin (BTC) or ETH as securities.

However, he claimed 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 an April 2023 congressional hearing.

“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 said “would be appropriate only if ETH is not a security,” and the SEC closed 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.

Related: SEC eyes exemption framework to boost crypto innovation

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.

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