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19/06/24
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Consensys Says U.S. SEC Will Not Bring Charges Alleging ETH Sales as Securities Transactions
On June 19, Ethereum developer Consensys revealed that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is ending its investigation into Ethereum 2.0.
“Today we’re happy to announce a major win for Ethereum developers, technology providers, and industry participants: the Enforcement Division of the SEC has notified us that it is closing its investigation into Ethereum 2.0. This means that the SEC will not bring charges alleging that sales of ETH are securities transactions,” reads Consensys’ post via X.
This comes after the developer sent a letter to the SEC about two weeks ago asking whether it plans to end its investigation into Ether (ETH). The letter was necessary after the commission approved proposals to list and trade spot ETH exchange traded funds (ETFs) last month and Consensys said are “premised on ETH being a commodity.”
On June 18, the SEC’s Division of Enforcement replied to the firm noting the following:
“While we do not with this notice, or otherwise, agree with the factual statements or legal conclusions set forth in the June 4 Letter, based on the information we have as of this date, we do not intend to recommend an enforcement action by the Commission against your client, Consensys Software Inc. with respect to this investigation.”
Three months ago, Fortune’s report revealed that several firms received subpoenas from the commission regarding its attempts to categorize ETH as a security. Two months ago, Consensys filed a lawsuit against the commission following a Wells notice received regarding potential violations of securities laws on its MetaMask cryptocurrency wallet.
The firm claimed that the commission and its Chair Gary Gensler have considered ETH as a security since at least early last year.
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