Consensys said that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has notified the company that it will end its investigation into Ethereum 2.0. The SEC’s decision follows a letter from Consensys requesting clarification on the nature of ether in the SEC’s approval of an Ethereum spot ETF.
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ToggleSEC gives up pursuing ETH as a security?
According to a Consensys announcement, Consensys described this as a "major victory for the industry" and wrote on Twitter :
Ethereum has escaped SEC scrutiny, meaning the SEC will not charge that ETH sales constitute securities transactions. Our June 7 letter asked the SEC to confirm that May’s Ethereum ETF approval was premised on ETH being a commodity. The end of the Ethereum investigation is significant, but for many districts suffering from the SEC’s illegal and aggressive crypto enforcement This is not a panacea for blockchain developers, technology providers and industry players.
The decision follows a letter we sent on June 7, asking the SEC to confirm that the May ETH ETF approvals, which were predicated on ETH being a commodity, meant the agency would close its Ethereum 2.0 investigation.
— Consensys (@Consensys) June 19, 2024
The closing of the Ethereum investigation is momentous, but it's…
ConsenSys received the SEC's Wells Notice on April 10, and subsequently decided to proactively sue the SEC. At that time, it mainly had the following demands:
Hopefully a federal court will declare that ETH is not a security.
MetaMask’s staking service does not violate securities laws.
MetaMask is not a trading broker under federal law.
( Consensys sues the SEC, supports Ethereum, and points out "four reasons" why ETH is not a security )
Consensys products are still in danger
Consensys’ lawsuit is still pending. FOX reporter Eleanor Terrett pointed out on Twitter that in fact, the SEC has not yet charged Consensys for the violations of MetaMask with Swap trading and staking functions as proposed in the Wells Notice. In the next few days, Or formal charges could be filed within weeks.
Consensys also stated in the announcement:
Our fight continues, and we will demonstrate in the lawsuit that the Swaps and staking functions provided by the interface software MetaMask do not violate securities laws, and that litigation should not be used to provide much-needed regulatory clarity.
Noting that the @SECGov has not yet charged @Consensys with the offenses it laid out in the Wells notice concerning its @MetaMask wallet with swaps and staking. The Wells notice was made public by Consensys in April so it's possible charges could come in the coming days/weeks. https://t.co/SiDNDr4EAZ
— Eleanor Terrett (@EleanorTerrett) June 19, 2024
