The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed a lawsuit against Ethereum infrastructure provider Consensys, alleging the company failed to register key services offered within its MetaMask software wallet. The SEC claims that Consensys engaged in the "unregistered offer and sale of securities" through its MetaMask Staking service, including "tens of thousands of unregistered securities" on behalf of both Lido and Rocketpool.

Additionally, the SEC alleges that the MetaMask Staking and MetaMask Swaps services made Consensys an "unregistered broker," by providing investment information on crypto assets, facilitating trades, and collecting "hundreds of millions of dollars in fees as an unregistered broker."

Despite this, the crypto industry remains optimistic. The SEC recently closed its investigation into Consensys regarding Ethereum 2.0 and approved Ethereum spot ETFs, indicating that Ethereum is legally a commodity outside of the SEC's purview. Consensys has also pre-emptively sued the SEC, seeking a court declaration that its staking and swap services do not violate securities laws. The company has called the SEC's lawsuit "the latest example of its regulatory overreach."