Ethereum

Gary

Spot

The U.S. SEC and its Chairman, Gary Gensler, have considered Ethereum a security for at least a year. 
According to <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/new-court-filings-show-sec-chair-gensler-believed-ethereum-was-security-for-at-least-year" target="_blank" rel="">FOX Business</a>, Consensys, which develops Ethereum software, filed an unredacted complaint against the agency after this was revealed. 
The document states that the&nbsp;Ethereum 2.0&nbsp;investigation&nbsp;was based&nbsp;on the&nbsp;SEC’s&nbsp;belief that possible offers and sales of&nbsp;certain&nbsp;securities,&nbsp;including but not limited to ETH, had occurred since at least 2018. 
The Consensys&nbsp;lawsuit shows that the SEC has made multiple document requests over the past year asking for more details about the&nbsp;company’s&nbsp;role in the proof-of-stake (<a href="https://crypto.news/tag/proof-of-stake/" target="_blank" rel="">PoS</a>) update and&nbsp;its acquisitions, holdings, and sales of Ethereum.&nbsp;Documents also show that the SEC may believe that sales of Ethereum even before the 2018 merger were securities. 
 You might also like: <a href="https://crypto.news/spot-ethereum-etfs-reportedly-facing-potential-sec-denial/" rel=""> Spot Ethereum ETFs reportedly facing potential SEC denial </a> 
The <a href="https://crypto.news/tag/SEC/" target="_blank" rel="">SEC’s</a> belief that Ethereum is a security contradicts the previous guidance under the chairmanship of&nbsp;Jay Clayton. Additionally, in June of 2018, then-CFO Bill Hinman stated in a speech the&nbsp;SEC’s&nbsp;position that Ethereum, along with <a href="https://crypto.news/tag/bitcoin/" target="_blank" rel="">Bitcoin</a>, is not a security. 
Even before Gensler’s testimony,&nbsp;the chairman’s&nbsp;reluctance to give a definitive answer on&nbsp;Ethereum’s&nbsp;regulatory status raised alarm bells for the crypto industry. Many speculate that&nbsp;Ethereum’s&nbsp;Merge has made the cryptocurrency more security-like than the original consensus mechanism. 
Consensys <a href="https://crypto.news/consensys-sues-sec-over-ethereum-crackdown/" rel="">initiated</a> legal action against the SEC&nbsp;to keep the regulator from overseeing the Ethereum blockchain. 
<a href="https://crypto.news/tag/ConsenSys/" target="_blank" rel="">Consensys</a> said its action against the SEC followed the April 10&nbsp;Wells notice indicating the regulator was preparing to take enforcement action against the company regarding its MetaMask wallet services. The company emphasized that <a href="https://crypto.news/tag/MetaMask/" target="_blank" rel="">MetaMask</a> is not a broker and&nbsp;“does not store&nbsp;clients’&nbsp;digital assets or perform any transactional functions.” 
 You might also like: <a href="https://crypto.news/consensys-sec-spot-ethereum-etf-advanced-safeguards/" rel=""> Consensys urges SEC to ‘recognize’ spot Ethereum ETFs safeguards </a>

SEC has considered Ethereum a security for extended period

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