US SEC closes investigation in Ethereum 2.0, ‘major win’ for industry: Consensys

Quick Take

  • Consensys said the U.S. SEC has notified the company that the agency is closing its investigation into Ethereum 2.0.
  • The SEC decision came after Consensys sent a letter requesting clarification of ether’s category in the approval of spot ether ETFs.

Consensys Software Inc. announced today that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s enforcement division has notified the blockchain company that it is closing its investigation into Ethereum 2.0, which it described as a “major win” for the industry.

“Ethereum survives the SEC,” Consensys wrote in its X post. “This means that the SEC will not bring charges alleging that sales of ETH are securities transactions.”

Consensys detailed in the X thread that the SEC’s decision came after the company sent a letter on June 7, which asked the agency to confirm that the spot ether exchange-traded fund approvals in May meant that it would end its investigation into Ethereum 2.0. The approval of spot ETH ETFs, though not final, was based on the premise that ETH tokens were commodities, Consensys wrote.

The blockchain development company behind the MetaMask Ethereum wallet had filed a lawsuit against the SEC in April, in opposition to the agency’s categorization of ether as a financial security. 

The company alleged in the complaint that SEC’s Gurbir Grewal, Director of the Division of Enforcement, approved the investigation into Ethereum 2.0 on March 28, 2023, to examine individuals and entities buying and selling ether. Consensys allegedly received a wells notice from the SEC in April, which meant the agency planned on bringing an enforcement action against it.

RELATED INDICES

While SEC Chair Gary Gensler has avoided directly addressing the question of whether ether is a security, Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair Rostin Behnam has categorized ether as a commodity.

“Our fight continues,” Consensys said. “In our lawsuit, we also seek a declaration that offering the user interface software MetaMask Swaps and Staking does not violate the securities laws.”

The SEC did not immediately respond to The Block’s request for comment.


Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.

© 2023 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

About Author

Danny Park is an East Asia reporter at The Block writing on topics including Web3 developments and crypto regulations in the region. He was formerly a reporter at Forkast.News, where he actively covered the downfall of Terra-Luna and FTX. Based in Seoul, Danny has previously produced written and video content for media companies in Korea, Hong Kong and China. He holds a Bachelor of Journalism and Business Marketing from the University of Hong Kong.

Editor

To contact the editor of this story:
Timmy Shen at
[email protected]