Rep Timmons Demands #SEC Documents on Historical #Ethereum Treatment
Republican Representative William Timmons has requested SEC Chair Paul Atkins provide documents on the agency's historical approach to
$ETH.
The letter criticizes former Chair Gary Gensler's "zigzagging approach" that created confusion for crypto market participants.
In 2018, SEC official William Hinman stated the agency wouldn't treat
$BTC or
$ETH as securities.
Gensler later cast doubt on
$ETH's status by refusing to answer security classification questions during 2023 congressional hearings.
Days before that testimony, the SEC had approved a formal investigation into whether
$ETH constitutes a security.
The agency later approved
$ETH #ETFs and closed its
$ETH probe weeks afterward, creating regulatory inconsistency.
Coinbase's 2023 FOIA request for
$ETH documents led to a lawsuit after the SEC denied disclosure.
A federal judge ordered the #SEC to release certain documents, revealing prosecutors unsuccessfully sought the agency's #Ethereum opinion.
Timmons argues the documentation will help Congress understand the former leadership's contradictory regulatory approach.
