New twist in the fierce fight waged by the American SEC against companies operating in the world of crypto. The SEC files a complaint against the American firm Consensys. What is the company behind the famous MetaMask wallet accused of?
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) vs. Consensys
On Friday, June 28, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) officially filed a complaint against the American firm Consensys.
Recently, the SEC appeared to drop charges against Ethereum. It has now found a new enemy by suing the company behind the most used Web3 wallet in the world, MetaMask.
A 60-page complaint was filed accusing, among other things, the MetaMask cryptocurrency wallet of acting as an unregistered securities broker. In addition, Lido and RocketPool's staking services are also considered by the SEC to be unregistered securities.
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What is Consensys accused of?
After the approval of Ether ETFs by the United States SEC, the organization chaired by Gary Gensler changes its angle of attack by attacking companies offering liquid staking services on Ether.
Thus, the SEC criticizes the MetaMask wallet for having offered and facilitated access to these services, in particular via Lido and RocketPool, through its MetaMask Staking tool.
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Additionally, the SEC argues that many of the transactions involve unregistered securities such as Polygon's MATIC, Chiliz's CHZ, LUNA, The Sandbox's SAND, and Decentraland's MANA, which require registration with the SEC in order to be traded.
MetaMask Swaps and Staking services are therefore directly targeted by the SEC. The latter specifies that these services would have brought in $250 million in revenue to Consensys without the latter putting in place protections for investors.
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Consensys' response
Consensys was aware of a potential SEC complaint and claims to be able to legally defend itself in this matter. The American company specifies that the regulation of software interfaces like MetaMask is not within the remit of the SEC and denounces the anti-crypto and repressive policy of the organization chaired by Gary Gensler.
This is particularly why 2 months earlier, the company co-founded by Joe Lubin filed a complaint against the organization chaired by Gary Gensler for illegal takeover of power.
In response to the SEC attack, Consensys posted a response on its blog relayed through its X account:
Consensys fully expected the SEC to follow through on its threat to claim our MetaMask software interface must register as a securities broker. The SEC has been pursuing an anti-crypto agenda led by ad hoc enforcement action.
This is just the latest example of its regulatory…
— Consensys (@Consensys) June 28, 2024
The SEC is pursuing an anti-crypto agenda driven by ad hoc enforcement actions. This is just the latest example of its regulatory overreach – a transparent attempt to redefine well-established legal norms and expand the SEC’s jurisdiction through lawsuits.
Determined not to let herself be crushed, The firm behind the famous Web3 wallet has assured that it will continue to put forward its arguments” because it matters not only for our business but also for the future success of Web3 “.
Source: SEC
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Theo Zananiri
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