SEC files lawsuit against Consensys

• The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has sued Consensys.
• SEC filed its lawsuit against the company on Friday, alleging unregistered broker dealer and offer of unregistered securities.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has sued Consensys, the Ethereum developer and software provider.

On Friday, June 28, the SEC filed a lawsuit against the company alleging Consensys has operated an unregistered broker dealer and offered unregistered securities. The regulator’s complaint is also about MetaMasks services – crypto swaps and staking.

“Consensys violated the federal securities laws by failing to register as a broker and failing to register the offer and sale of certain securities, thereby depriving investors of crucial protections that those laws afford,” the SEC alleged in the filing.

SEC highlights Lido, Rocket Pool staking

The SEC notes in the complaint filed at the United States District Court Eastern District Of New York that the MetaMask Swaps service has operated since October 2020, while Consensys has offered staking programs via the crypto wallet and platform since January 2023.

“By its conduct as an unregistered broker, Consensys has collected over $250 million in fees,” the SEC argues.

The lawsuit mentions Polygon (MATIC), Chiliz (CHZ), the Sandbox (SAND), Mana (MANA), and Luna (LUNA) as some of the securities.

SEC alleges that Lido (LDO) and Rocket Pool (RPL) staking programs are “investment contracts and, therefore, securities.”

According to the regulator, investors using the protocols expect profits with this coming from Lido and Rocket Pool’s managerial efforts. But Lido and Rocket Pool have both not registered with the SEC.

Today’s news comes a few days after Consensys said the SEC had ended its investigation into Ethereum 2.0. Consensys sued the regulator in April seeking clarification over Ethereum.

Notably, SEC approved spot Ethereum ETFs in May.