SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce said that the Ethereum ETF approval process won’t be the same as Bitcoin, as the SEC has learned several lessons from the spot Bitcoin ETF saga. 

In an interview today with Zack Guzmán, Peirce said that the SEC shouldn’t need to be persuaded by a court to approve crypto-backed ETFs eventually. Peirce mentioned that the regulators will change their approval process for ETH ETF applicants, and they will make regular consumer and market considerations, as it does with all ETF products. 

“We shouldn’t need a court to tell us that our approach is arbitrary and capricious in order for us to get it right.”

– Hester Peirce, SEC Commissioner

The Commissioner also expressed her frustration over the long delays in Bitcoin ETF approvals, as she always thought these products met the requirements for approval long ago.

Peirce also shed light on the SEC’s X account hack, which previously posted the fake approval post, leading to a brief market manipulation. She believes the hack might not have happened if the SEC hadn’t built up so much attention around these approvals and that the agency could’ve avoided this by using its regular approach to ETF applications. 

The lack of heightened anticipation will be a key consideration in Ethereum ETF approvals, as the SEC shouldn’t be building hype around a regulatory decision. 

Peirce further emphasized that approving spot Bitcoin ETFs doesn’t necessarily mean that the SEC will change how it regulates crypto. She also mentioned that the agency is not in the business of policing crypto, rather its focus will also be on regulating securities products based on crypto that trades on securities exchanges, just as it does with the gold market.