Categories: U.S. Regulation

The S.E.C. Closes Investigation into Ethereum 2.0, No Securities Charges Against ETH

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has wrapped up its investigation into Ethereum 2.0 and will no longer pursue legal action claiming that ETH sales are securities transactions, according to a recent announcement from Consensys.
Consensys said this is a major win for Ethereum developers and businesses. It removes a cloud of uncertainty that could have hampered Ethereum’s growth.

In March, an update on the Ethereum Foundation’s GitHub repository revealed that the organization was under investigation by an unnamed “state authority.” After the discovery, Fortune reported that the SEC pursued an “energetic legal campaign” to classify Ethereum as a security.

Uncertainty intensified after Consensys filed a lawsuit against the SEC in April. Part of the company’s effort was seeking a court ruling that would declare that Ethereum’s native token, Ether (ETH), is not a security.

FOX Business reported in late April that the SEC’s Enforcement Division, headed by Gurbir Grewal, initiated a formal investigation into Ethereum’s status as a security in March 2023. This investigation, known as “Ethereum 2.0“, explores transactions and activities associated with Ethereum dating back to 2018.

As noted, the SEC’s latest decision comes after Consensys sent a letter to the SEC arguing that the recent approval of spot Ethereum ETFs implied ETH wasn’t a security, and the SEC should close the investigation. The move likely hinged on considering ETH a commodity, much like BTC, and signifies no forthcoming legal challenges.

Despite this progress, Consensys said the quest for definitive regulatory guidelines continues, especially concerning services like MetaMask Swaps and Staking. The team is still seeking broader clarity from the SEC on crypto regulations.

Terron Gold

Recent Posts

Cypherpunk Launches World’s Largest Zcash Mining Fleet in $33 Million Winklevoss Deal

Cypherpunk Technologies is expanding its massive bet on Zcash by launching what it calls the…

5 days ago

MapleStory Universe Launches AI Game Jam With $15,000 in NXPC Prizes

MapleStory Universe is putting artificial intelligence in the hands of game creators with the launch…

6 days ago

Kalshi Pushes Beyond Prediction Markets With Copper Perpetual Future Filing With CFTC

Kalshi is making another major move beyond prediction markets, filing with the Commodity Futures Trading…

6 days ago

Coinbase Brings 50x Crypto Perpetual Trading to Base App Through Hyperliquid

Coinbase is bringing high-leverage decentralized derivatives directly into its Base App through an integration with…

6 days ago

Hong Kong Puts First Regulated Stablecoin to Work in Insurance and $49 Billion UAE Trade Market

Hong Kong's first regulated Hong Kong dollar stablecoin is moving beyond testing and into real-world…

6 days ago

Fake Trezor, Ledger and Exodus Apps Target Crypto Users in Massive Seed Phrase Scam

Cybersecurity researchers at Rapid7 have uncovered a sophisticated crypto fraud operation that used nearly 885,000…

7 days ago