Ethereum giant ConsenSys is suing the US Securities and Exchange Commission

Ethereum giant ConsenSys is suing the US Securities and Exchange Commission

Ethereum software giant ConsenSys filed a lawsuit with the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday. The reason for the company's dissatisfaction is the irrational regulation of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In a 34-page complaint, ConsenSys explains that the US Securities and Exchange Commission is attempting to regulate Ethereum as a security, even though Ethereum has none of the attributes of a security. With the lawsuit, ConsenSys wants to provide clarity and thus preserve access for thousands of developers, market participants and institutions that participate in the Ethereum network. ConsenSys' lawsuit may represent a necessary step to bring about a change in thinking among regulators, which is fundamentally important for Web3 technologies and innovation.

ConsenSys claims that the US Securities and Exchange Commission is trying to take control of the future of the Ethereum cryptocurrency by misclassifying it as a security. A regulator official had already stated in 2018 that Ethereum should not be treated as a security. ConsenSys' lawsuit came after the SEC provided ConsenSys with a Wells Notice regarding MetaMask, which resulted in a preemptive action. The SEC appears to be attempting to assert its regulatory dominance through irrational enforcement actions against ConsenSys and other crypto-related companies, which is problematic for the companies involved.

Die eindeutige Klassifizierung von Ethereum ist wichtig, da die Regulierungsbehörde in der Vergangenheit viele Krypto-Unternehmen verfolgt hat, die gegen Gesetze verstoßen haben, weil sie nicht registrierte Wertpapiere verkauft haben. Ein Beschluss der SEC, Ethereum als Wertpapier anstatt als Rohstoff zu klassifizieren, könnte zu Verstößen gegen amerikanische Wertpapiergesetze führen. Andere Regulierungsbehörden wie die Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) haben hingegen erklärt, dass Ethereum eine Ware ist, was die Unsicherheit bei den US-Behörden verdeutlicht.

ConsenSys' lawsuit aims to preserve access to the Ethereum network for developers, market participants and institutions. Joe Lubin, co-founder of Ethereum and founder of ConsenSys, emphasizes the importance of this lawsuit and states that the SEC should not arbitrarily expand its jurisdiction. The lawsuit came after the Ethereum Foundation received a request from an unnamed government agency, which ultimately turned out to be the SEC. It remains to be seen how this litigation will develop and what impact it will have on the regulation of cryptocurrencies in the United States.