A U.S. district judge has dismissed a case brought against the Securities and Exchange Commission by blockchain and web3 development company Consensys Software Inc.
Judge Reed O'Connor in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas in the Fort Worth Division dismissed Consensys' claims and sided with the SEC on Thursday.
"For the reasons stated above, Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff’s ETH claims is GRANTED, and Counts I, II, and III are DISMISSED AS MOOT," Judge O'Connor wrote. "Plaintiff concedes it is not pursuing an APA claim under Count IV. Finally, Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff’s MetaMask for lack of subject matter jurisdiction is hereby GRANTED. Accordingly, this action is dismissed without prejudice."
Consensys sued the SEC in April, in part over how the agency categorized ether as a security. Consensys said the SEC has decided that ETH is a security and said the agency has "trained its sights" on the firm's Metamask software. The firm also noted in the complaint that SEC staff sent Consensys a Wells notice in April, meaning a formal notice that the agency plans to bring an enforcement action against them.
However, later in June, Consensys said it was notified that the SEC was closing its investigation into Ethereum, which at the time was described as a "major win" for the industry. Consensys said it still planned to continue the lawsuit because it was also looking for a "declaration that offering the user interface software MetaMask Swaps and Staking does not violate the securities laws."
Then, in July, the SEC sued Consensys over its failure to register as a broker through its Metamask swaps service. That lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.
Judge O'Connor said none of the SEC's actions regarding MetaMask were "final."
"Because Plaintiff has not identified final agency action that would render the claim fit for judicial review and because withholding consideration subjects Plaintiff to scant, if any, hardship, the claim lacks a ripe case or controversy," the judge wrote. "Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss Plaintiff’s MetaMask claim on ripeness grounds is GRANTED."
Consensys and the SEC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Disclaimer: The Block is an independent media outlet that delivers news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor of The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. Here are our current financial disclosures.
© 2024 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到support@aicoin.com，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。
