Consensys: SEC will drop investigation into Ethereum

Author: Jesse Coghlan, CoinTelegraph; Compiler: Deng Tong, Golden Finance

The SEC is dropping its investigation into whether Ethereum is a security.

“The SEC Enforcement Division has informed us that it is closing its investigation into Ethereum 2.0,”Ethereum developer Consensys said in a June 19 X post.

“This means that the SEC will not bring charges against the sale of ETH as a securities transaction,” the company said, calling it “a major victory for Ethereum developers, technology providers, and industry participants.” Source: Consensys Consensys said the SEC’s decision came after it sent a letter to the agency on June 7 asking whether it would end its investigation into Ether, given that the regulator approved a spot ETH exchange-traded fund (ETF) in May, which the company said was “premised on the premise that ETH is a commodity.” Consensys senior counsel Laura Brookover shared the SEC’s response letter to the company, which said the agency “does not intend to recommend enforcement action.”

In March, Fortune reported that the SEC had issued subpoenas to multiple companies related to attempts to label ETH as a security.

Consensys sued the SEC in April, shortly after receiving a Wells Notice from the agency warning that its MetaMask crypto wallet may have violated securities laws.

The lawsuit claims that the SEC and its chairman, Gary Gensler, have considered ETH to be a security since at least early 2023. Consensys claims that Gurbir Grewal, head of the SEC's enforcement division, approved an order on March 28, 2023 to conduct a formal investigation into Ether's status as a security.

In its latest post, it said the lawsuit is still ongoing.