The current process allows ETFs that meet certain conditions to jump into the markets without requiring a complicated exemption application from the regulator, and that approach has seen explosive growth from $4 trillion in 2019 to $12 trillion in 2025.
“It is designed to build a record that could be used to justify future policy changes that would allow ETFs to focus on a broader universe of assets,” TD Cowen policy analyst Jaret Seiberg said in a note to clients. He said the broader range of ETFs could include “those based on event contracts, crypto assets and single equity strategies.”
Atkins’ SEC has made the adoption of new technologies, especially cryptocurrencies, a priority for which it is working on important policies that enable innovations such as the tokenization of securities. Meanwhile, its stance on the ETF may also be rewritten.
“Market participants have raised questions about whether new ETFs with a primary investment strategy to invest in assets that are not securities under the Investment Company Act are investment companies,” according to the SEC’s request, which raised a number of questions on that point. He also raised questions about the time period in which ETFs come into effect and what must be disclosed during this process.
