SEC sues Consensys over MetaMask swaps and staking services

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued Consensys and says the firm has failed to register as a broker through its MetaMask swaps service.

Consensys also violated the law through its MetaMask staking service, the SEC said in a complaint filed on Friday in the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of New York."

Consensys engaged in the unregistered offer and sale of securities in the form of crypto asset staking programs, and acted as an unregistered broker, through its MetaMask Staking service, the agency said. By its conduct as an unregistered broker, Consensys has collected over $250 million in fees," it added.

In the complaint, the agency also said that Lido and Rocket Pool's staking services were securities. "Specifically, as described in more detail below, investors make an investment of ETH in a common enterprise with a reasonable expectation of profits from the managerial efforts of Lido and Rocket Pool, respectively," it said.

Just last month, Consensys sued the SEC over its approach to regulating Ethereum and said at the time that the SEC "trained its sights" on the firm's MetaMask software.

In the complaint, the firm also said it received a Wells notice, meaning a formal notice that the agency plans to bring an enforcement action against them. However, Consensys announced last week that the SEC's enforcement division notified the company that it was closing its investigation into Ethereum.