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This is a segment from the Forward Guidance newsletter. To read full editions, subscribe. January marked an end to SAB 121, welcomed Donald Trump’s crypto executive order and saw the creation of a new SEC task force.  Pair that with an ETF filing surge, and it’s a good time to catch up with someone on the inside: Bitwise general counsel Katherine Dowling.  Her firm, after all, has plotted ETFs that would hold XRP, solana and (as of more recently) dogecoin. Dowling, an ex-assistant US attorney in the economic crimes unit of the Northern District of California’s US Attorney’s Office, described regulatory work as “siloed” in recent years — with SEC Chair Gary Gensler and the CFTC’s Rostin Behnam having “different views behind the scenes.” Now, the signal of more SEC-CFTC cooperation is one of the biggest changes from the Gensler-era (“which now we can refer to as the past,” she quipped).   The crypto task force seems “incredibly genuine” based on dialogue Bitwise is having with the SEC, Dowling added. That said, Dowling described the securities regulator as being in “a purgatorial state” with SEC chair nominee Paul Atkins not yet confirmed. Mark Uyeda is serving as acting chair. The SEC appears to be waiting for “directive from up high” on how to handle litigations, for example. Like that case against Ripple you’ve probably read about. “Overnight those don’t just go away, nor should they,” Dowling said. “But when you have new leadership, there’s a new set of eyes. Are we looking at the right things in this particular case? Is there a settlement stance where we can both get what we want?” The Bitwise exec noted some assets remain “caught up like dolphins in the fish nets.” She’s alluding to those apparently classified as securities — SOL and XRP among…

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Filed under: News - @ February 4, 2025 9:18 pm