PANews reported on June 29 that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sued Consensys. The SEC stated in the complaint that since 2016, Consensys has developed and operated a set of crypto-asset-related services under the "MetaMask" brand. Consensys claims to be a leader and innovator in the crypto-asset industry, but some of the products it provides to customers perform ancient functions: (1) brokering securities transactions for retail investors and (2) engaging in the offer and sale of securities.
Consensys violated the federal securities laws by failing to register as a broker-dealer and by failing to register offers and sales of certain securities, thereby depriving investors of key protections under those laws. Since October 2020, Consensys has operated as an unregistered broker-dealer in crypto-asset securities through its MetaMask Swaps service. Since January 2023, Consensys has offered and sold unregistered crypto-asset staking plans through its MetaMask Staking service and has collected more than $250 million in fees through these activities.
