No, SEC Chair Gary Gensler and the agency's commissioners did not vote on approving spot Ethereum ETFs
Quick Take
- In an order approving 19b-4 forms for ETFs from BlackRock, Fidelity, Grayscale, Bitwise, VanEck, Ark, Invesco Galaxy and Franklin Templeton, there was a line at the end that sheds light on how the decision went down.
- The SEC said on Thursday that it won’t be commenting beyond the order.
The Securities and Exchange Commission's Trading and Markets Division, not the agency's commissioners, made the decision to approve forms for a slew of spot Ethereum 
ETH
+0.73%
exchange-traded funds.
In an order approving 19b-4 forms for ETFs from BlackRock, Fidelity, Grayscale, Bitwise, VanEck, Ark, Invesco Galaxy and Franklin Templeton, there was a line at the end that sheds light on how the decision went down.
"For the Commission, by the Division of Trading and Markets, pursuant to delegated authority," the order read.
This means that the SEC's division of trading and markets, not SEC Chair Gary Gensler or the four other commissioners, made the decision to greenlight spot Ethereum ETFs.
When the SEC approved spot bitcoin ETFs earlier this year, the commissioners voted — SEC Chair Gensler approved alongside Republican Commissioners Hester Peirce and Mark Uyeda. Democratic Commissioners Jaime Lizárraga and Carolina Crenshaw disapproved. Many of the commissioners also released statements on the spot bitcoin ETFs. The SEC said on Thursday that it won't be commenting beyond the order.
Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart called the agency's decision to use delegated authority normal.
"Making decisions via delegated authority is the NORM. This is how things are typically done. If SEC required an official vote for every decision or every document -- it'd be insane," Seyffart said in a post on X on Thursday. "It would have been nice to see where the political lines were drawn tho."
A high ranking member at an issuer called the delegated authority part an "interesting detail."
"We don't [know why] — it's likely related to the recent political developments," that source said.
The crypto industry cheered news of the SEC's greenlight on Thursday, calling it a "historic move."
Though the 19b-4 forms have been approved, S-1 registration statements still need to go effective before trading can begin. Some, however, say that it could take weeks.
Tim Copeland contributed reporting
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