The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has dropped its case against Ethereum software developer Consensys, marking another regulatory win for the digital asset industry.
MetaMask creator Consensys became the latest cryptocurrency and decentralized finance provider to gain relief from a federal investigation launched by the previous Securities and Exchange Commission leadership as of Feb. 27.
Joseph Lubin, Consensys founder and Ethereum co-founder, said both parties had reached an in-principle agreement to end the SEC’s probe.
Consensys was one of several crypto firms scrutinized by the agency in 2024. The SEC had alleged that Lubin’s blockchain developer, through its MetaMask non-custodial wallet, operated as an unregistered securities broker and failed to implement standard consumer protection measures.
The case was built on the premise that most cryptocurrencies are securities and must be registered with the SEC, a position strongly advocated by former SEC Chair Gary Gensler.
Also, the lawsuit against Consensys, and a counter-suit by Lubin’s firm, unearthed a year-long SEC investigation into Ethereum’s blockchain. The probe was dropped after MetaMask’s creator challenged the agency’s claims.
“We were committed to fighting this suit until the bitter end but welcome this outcome,” Lubin said in an X post, celebrating his company’s win.
Several crypto service providers have received similar updates from the SEC this year, after Donald Trump took office and acting Chair Mark Uyeda succeeded Gensler.
At press time, the SEC has now dropped its cases against Coinbase, OpenSea, Robinhood, Uniswap, and Gemini. The agency’s Crypto Task Force also considered closing lawsuits levied against Binance and Tron founder Justin Sun.
