Texas judge approves expedited schedule for SEC's case against Consensys

Quick Take

  • A Texas judge approved an expedited schedule of legal proceedings in the SEC’s case against Consensys.
  • A decision could come by the end of the year or early 2025.

A Texas judge has implemented the schedule for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's case against blockchain software firm Consensys.

Legal proceedings are slated to occur between July 29 and November 26, suggesting that a decision for the SEC's case against Consensys could come by the end of the year or early 2025.

"Judge O'Connor granted our request that he consider the merits of our case on an expedited basis: whether the SEC has Congressional authority to regulate MetaMask as a securities broker and issuer," Consensys lawyer Bill Hughes wrote on the social media platform X. "Those questions would be considered alongside any arguments the SEC would make that we don't get to bring a case against them."

SEC sues Consensys

Last month, the SEC alleged that Consensys violated securities regulations through its MetaMask Staking and MetaMask Swaps services. The former permits the staking of ETH and MATIC and the latter lets users exchange different cryptocurrencies.

"The SEC’s complaint alleges that Consensys engages in the unregistered offer and sale of securities by participating in the distribution of the staking programs and operates as an unregistered broker with respect to these transactions," the SEC wrote in a June 28 release. By doing so, the agency continues, Consensys entered the U.S. securities market without providing investors federal securities law protection.


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About Author

MK Manoylov has been a reporter for The Block since 2020 — joining just before bitcoin surpassed $20,000 for the first time. Since then, MK has written nearly 1,000 articles for the publication, covering any and all crypto news but with a penchant toward NFT, metaverse, web3 gaming, funding, crime, hack and crypto ecosystem stories. MK holds a graduate degree from New York University's Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program (SHERP) and has also covered health topics for WebMD and Insider. You can follow MK on X @MManoylov and on LinkedIn.

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