🌋 SEC Began Investigating Ethereum Back in 2023
posted 29 Apr 2024
Newly revealed documents from a Consensys lawsuit indicate that the SEC's committee approved an investigation named "Ethereum 2.0" in April 2023. According to Fox Business, these documents provide insights into the SEC's evolving views on Ethereum's classification as a security.
Throughout the past year, the SEC has requested extensive details from Consensys about its activities related to The Merge upgrade, including its purchases, holdings, and sales of ETH, as stated in the lawsuit.
Additionally, the implication from these documents is that the SEC may consider the ETH sales in 2018 (prior to adopting Proof of Stake) as securities.
This is in direct conflict with the SEC’s earlier position under Jay Clayton’s leadership, when SEC official Bill Hinman declared in a speech that Ethereum, like Bitcoin, does not constitute a security. Further supporting this earlier view, the CFTC has classified ETH as a commodity. In its lawsuit, Consensys claims it relied on these declarations to guide its business strategies.