Gary Gensler, chairman of the SEC, cannot be fired by Donald Trump.
His potential successors want the “war” against cryptocurrencies to end.
This November 8, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) again delayed its decision on the approval of ETH exchange-traded funds (ETFs). This occurs just 3 days after Donald Trump was elected the country’s next president.
In a document published, the SEC points out the need for additional time to review the proposal and evaluate the risks and implications within the market. The first rescheduling occurred in September of this year.
In total, there are four ETFs that are waiting: ETHW from Bitwise; ETHE and Ethereum Mini Trust from Grayscale; and ETHA from BlackRock.
Now, the key date will be in December; However, since August, when approval applications were submitted, Bloomberg ETF specialist James Seyffart has already pointed that the wait could extend until April 2025given that the Commission has a period of up to 240 days to decide.
It is worth noting that options on Bitcoin ETFs were already approved in September, and the decision on ETH ETFs is expected to be made in December. Will the SEC be relaxing its policies with the arrival of Trump? Commissioner Mark Uyeda consider that Commission’s war on cryptocurrencies must end. Uyeda is one of Trump’s candidates to be elected the new chairman of the SEC.
If ETH ETF options are approved in December, it could be a sign of a final SEC openness toward cryptocurrencies. Even so, there would be many pending issuessuch as the case of Ripple, cryptocurrencies classified as securities, ongoing legal actions, among others.
Gary Gensler’s presidency could have its days numbered
Since the intervention of the now candidate Donald Trump at the Bitcoin 2024 conference, held in Nashville, Tennessee, where he promised to fire Gary Gensler on his first day as president, it seems that the current leader of the SEC has his days numbered. However, It should be noted that Trump doesn’t have the authority direct to remove him.
In past administration changes, such as Joe Biden in 2021 or Trump himself in 2016, outgoing SEC chairs resigned before inauguration on January 20 of the corresponding year. Therefore, it is hoped that Gensler can follow this same path.
Will Gensler resign then? His term as current chairman of the SEC ends on January 5, 2026, and he has not made any statements in this regard. However, one situation A parallel was with Jerome Powell, president of the Federal Reserve (FED), who already indicated that he would not resign even if Trump asked him to.