SEC Charges Consensys Software Inc. With Unregistered Sale of Securities
On yet another day, the SEC has announced yet another charge.
In another case, the SEC has charged Consensys Software Inc. with the unregistered offer and sale of securities through its MetaMask Staking service and operating as an unregistered broker through both MetaMask Staking and MetaMask Swaps.
The charges were announced on June 28, 2024. The SEC’s complaint alleges that since at least January 2023, ConsenSys has offered and sold tens of thousands of unregistered securities on behalf of liquid staking program providers Lido and Rocket Pool.
These programs issue liquid staking tokens, which the SEC claims that Consensys collected hundreds of millions of dollars in fees as an unregistered broker, thus depriving investors of the protections afforded by federal securities laws.
In response to the charges, Consensys issued a statement on its website asserting that it anticipated these charges and will continue to pursue its lawsuit against the SEC, which it filed in Texas in April.
The firm argues that the SEC is overreaching its regulatory authority and that it has not been granted the power to regulate software interfaces like MetaMask.
But that’s not all.
On June 25, 2024, the SEC filed charges against Meta Materials Inc. and its former CEOs for market manipulation, fraud, and other violations.
The company raised $137.5 million from investors through a scheme that involved issuing a preferred stock dividend immediately before a merger, which was alleged to have been designed to manipulate the market
Following the SEC’s charges, Consensys Technologies has released a statement in response to the allegations.
” 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 overreach – a transparent attempt to redefine well-established legal standards and expand the SEC’s jurisdiction via lawsuit. We are confident in our position that the SEC has not been granted authority to regulate software interfaces like MetaMask.We will continue to vigorously pursue our case in Texas for ruling on these issues because it matters not only to our company but the future success of web3.”
About Consensys
Consensys is a blockchain software technology company known for its development of the Ethereum software platform. It plays a significant role in the Web3 space, providing tools and applications that enable decentralized protocols and applications to function.
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