Republican Congressman William Timmons is pressing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for transparency over its evolving stance on Ethereum (ETH), calling on former commissioner Paul Atkins to provide internal documents related to how the agency has historically classified the digital asset.
In a letter sent June 10, Timmons criticized the SEC’s inconsistent messaging around ETH under current chair Gary Gensler, asserting that the agency’s regulatory back-and-forth has left the crypto industry in limbo. He requested “specific documents” that outline how the SEC’s position on ETH has shifted over the years, particularly during the Biden administration.
I just sent a letter to SEC Chair Atkins requesting documents on the SEC’s inconsistent treatment of ETH under Chair Gensler and the Biden administration. The American people—and the crypto community—deserve transparency as Congress moves forward with the CLARITY Act.
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— Congressman William Timmons (@RepTimmons) June 10, 2025
“Under prior leadership, the SEC refused to articulate a consistent, coherent view on how it believed the securities laws apply to digital assets,”
Timmons wrote, citing ETH as a prime example of the agency’s zigzagging approach.
He referenced a 2018 statement by former SEC Director of Corporate Finance William Hinman, who publicly declared that Bitcoin and Ethereum were not securities—an opinion that temporarily brought clarity to the market. However, Timmons pointed out that Chair Gensler has repeatedly declined to affirm ETH’s status in public hearings, including during an April 2023 congressional testimony.
“As would later be revealed, days before that testimony the SEC had approved a formal investigation into whether ETH is a security,”
Timmons revealed.
He added that the probe was quietly closed in early 2025, shortly after the SEC approved spot Ether exchange-traded funds (ETFs)—a move that, according to Timmons, would only be legally feasible if ETH were not classified as a security.
Timmons’ letter comes in the wake of a high-profile legal battle involving Coinbase, which filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request in 2023 demanding internal SEC communications on Ethereum’s classification. After the agency denied the request, Coinbase sued the SEC in June 2024 for allegedly violating FOIA laws.
A federal judge ultimately ruled in Coinbase’s favour, compelling the SEC to release thousands of documents—some of which the exchange has since made public. Among them was a revelation that federal prosecutors in New York had previously sought the SEC’s opinion on Ethereum’s legal status, but were met with silence.
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