Consensys sues the SEC

Consensys, the developer of the MetaMask wallet, has filed a lawsuit against the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The organization explained this as a desire to “protect the Ethereum community in the United States.”

Today, Consensy filed a lawsuit against the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The goal behind this is to ensure that Ethereum remains a vibrant and indispensable blockchain platform and to preserve access for the countless developers, market participants, and institutions…

— Consensys (@Consensys) April 25, 2024

Consensys believes that the SEC's move to regulate Ethereum (ETH) as a security will have broad implications. In particular, this will jeopardize future innovations, the firm believes.

In the official press release, the MetaMask developer noted that the purpose of the lawsuit is to confirm a number of theses, namely:

• Ethereum (ETH) is not a security. Blockchain is a global computing platform, not an investment scheme;
• applications that allow transactions in Ethereum are not considered brokers;
• The SEC's position undermines the US's future as a leader in some technologies.

In the lawsuit, the company demanded that a federal court confirm the status of Ethereum (ETH) as a commodity, not a security. Among other things, this will allow Consensys to avoid proceedings from the SEC.

Firm stated, that it received a “Wells notice” from the regulator on April 10, 2024. It states that MetaMask was acting as an unregistered broker. Please note that such an appeal often precedes the filing of a claim by the Commission.

Previously, SEC Chairman Gary Gensler called Ethereum (ETH) a commodity. Later, after taking office as head of the regulator, he changed his mind.