Legal Expert Affirms Consensys Ongoing Battle with SEC Despite Conclusion of Ethereum Probe

Attorney Rispoli believes that the resolution of Consensys’ legal battle with the SEC could reveal the regulator’s true stance on Ethereum.
The SEC’s decision to close its investigation into Ethereum 2.0 without recommending any enforcement action has sparked mixed reactions. Attorney Fred Rispoli shared his thoughts on this development in a recent X thread.
Rispoli acknowledged that the SEC’s decision to close the Ethereum investigation may seem positive on the surface, as it removes the immediate threat of enforcement action involving civil fines and criminal charges. However, he pointed out that a crucial aspect of the issue remains unresolved.
Consensys, the Ethereum developer, has made it clear that its legal fight with the SEC is far from over. In March, the SEC issued a subpoena to Consensys, revealing its investigation into whether the company violated securities laws through the staking and swap services offered on its Metamask crypto wallet.
As a result, Consensys filed a lawsuit against the SEC in April, seeking a declaration from a Texas District Court that the Metamask offerings did not violate securities laws.
Consensys has stated that its battle with the regulator is ongoing, as the SEC has not provided any comments on the status of Metamask’s staking and swap services.
In a recent tweet, Consensys emphasized the importance of regulatory clarity to promote innovation, noting that it should not require a lawsuit to achieve this clarity, especially for the swap and staking services offered on its wallet.
Attorney Rispoli commented that the lawsuit concerning Metamask’s staking and swap services essentially addresses the same substantive concerns as the SEC’s potential enforcement actions. He anticipated that the SEC would try to dismiss the Texas case and refile an enforcement action against Consensys in a favorable jurisdiction. However, this outcome appears unlikely now that the SEC has closed its investigation.
Rispoli highlighted that the outcome of the lawsuit will be critical in determining the SEC’s true position on Ethereum. He suggested that if Consensys drops the lawsuit, the situation will remain unchanged from before the SEC’s investigation into Ethereum 2.0 began. On the other hand, if the software company continues the lawsuit, Rispoli stated that the underlying issues will still be litigated without the threat of fines and potential jail time that would have come with an SEC-filed enforcement action.
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