Consensys, a cryptocurrency firm, is facing legal action from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for failing to register as a broker for their MetaMask swaps service and not registering the offer and sale of securities through their crypto staking programs. The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn, New York, alleges that Consensys collected over $250 million in fees as an unregistered broker.
In April, Consensys sued the SEC after receiving a notice of an impending enforcement action. The firm claimed that the SEC was attempting to unlawfully regulate ether, the world’s second largest cryptocurrency, through enforcement actions. However, on June 19th via social media announcement by Consensys stated that the SEC had closed its investigation into their company with no charges filed against them. Despite this news, Consensys will continue their lawsuit in pursuit of a court ruling that the SEC does not have the legal authority to regulate software interfaces built on the ethereum blockchain.
Kanishka Singh reported on this story from Washington while Hannah Lang contributed from New York.