Ethereum co-founder software giant ConsenSys filed a lawsuit against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Thursday, alleging that the regulator is trying to take control of the cryptocurrency and that the SEC plan to designate Ethereum as a security.
Ethereum co-founder ConsenSys , behind the MetaMask wallet and Infura infrastructure platform, alleges that the SEC is overreacting in its efforts to regulate Ethereum under current chairman Gary Gensler. An official from the agency previously said in 2018 that ETH should not be considered a security.
“The US Securities and Exchange Commission is seeking to regulate ETH as a security, even though ETH has no attributes of a security and even though the SEC has previously informed the world that ETH is not a security. securities and are not subject to the statutory jurisdiction of the SEC.”
The 34-page complaint said.
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The complaint further notes that the SEC sent ConsenSys Wells a Notice regarding MetaMask. A Wells Notice is a letter sent by the SEC notifying a company of charges from the SEC and giving the company an opportunity to clear itself and convince the SEC why it should not sue. However, when the SEC released the "Wells Notice", the possibility of ConsenSys being sued was up to 99%.
Therefore, ConsenSys chose to file a countersuit against the agency, asking the SEC to declare that Ethereum is not actually a security.
The SEC's position on Ethereum as a security is significant, as the SEC has now gone after multiple cryptocurrency companies that it believes are violating laws on selling unregistered securities.
If the SEC decides to designate Ethereum as a security instead of a commodity, some cryptocurrency companies will be accused of violating US securities laws. Other regulators such as the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) have said that Ethereum is a commodity
“The case we filed today aims to preserve access for thousands of developers, market participants and institutions with a stake in the world's second largest blockchain. The SEC cannot arbitrarily expand its jurisdiction to regulate what is clearly and by its own prior admission a commodity. We hope that the case will attract attention and ultimately halt the SEC's reckless approach to restoring the Capital certainty and soundness that is so essential to Web3 technology and the economy. The innovation economy is working well.”
said JOE Lubin, co-founder of Ethereum and CEO of ConsenSys
ConsenSys 's lawsuit is currently asking the court to handle three main issues including a request to rule that Ethereum is not a security, to ban the SEC from disturbing developers on Ethereum, and finally to rule that MetaMask is not a security. Must be a stock brokerage unit
The SEC has not yet responded to the case.
The lawsuit comes shortly after the Ethereum Foundation, which supports decentralized blockchain networks, revealed in February that it had received a request from an undisclosed “state agency.” Some rumors suggest that the SEC was actually behind this request.
Earlier this month, leading Ethereum decentralized exchange, Uniswap, announced that it also received a Wells Notice from the SEC.
VIC Crypto compiled
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