Judge Reed O’Connor tossed away a suit Consensys brought against the SEC regarding its investigation into Ethereum.
The District Court for Northern District of Texas Fort Worth Division dismissed Consensys’ suit against the US Securities and Exchange Commission and its commissioners for going after Ethereum and service providers dealing with Ether (ETH).
Consensys asked the court to declare that ETH was not a security and, by extension, that it did not deal with securities by offering services related to the asset with its MetaMask offering. This suit was Consensys’ response to the SEC sending it a Wells notice as it did with numerous companies in the industry. Regardless, the SEC followed the Consensys suit with a securities violations suit against MetaMask’s staking and swapping services.
In response to the original suit filed by Consensys against the SEC, Judge Reed O’Connor brushed off the firm’s requests related to the MetaMask. “The Notice neither marks the consummation of the agency’s—i.e., SEC’s— decision-making process nor establishes Plaintiff’s legal rights or obligations,” the court filing read. “The Notice also does not impose legal consequences on Plaintiff.”
Regarding Consensys’ request for the court to declare that ETH is not a security, the judge dismissed it as moot since the regulator stopped pursuing its investigation into the asset after its approved ETH ETFs earlier this year.
Consensys Responds
Consensys took to X, saying, “Unfortunately, the Texas court today dismissed our lawsuit on procedural grounds without looking at the merits of our claims against the SEC.” However, it highlighted how the SEC dropped its investigation into Ethereum after this suit was filed. “In a significant win for the industry, the SEC dropped its “Ethereum 2.0” investigation after our litigation was filed, and the Texas court today recognized that the SEC already gave Consensys the relief it sought on that critical issue for the Ethereum ecosystem.”
