Reed O’Connor, a federal decide on the USA District Courtroom for the Northern District of Texas, has granted a request by Consensys attorneys to decide on whether or not the U.S. Securities and Change Fee can regulate the self-custodial MetaMask pockets as a broker-dealer on an expedited foundation.
“These questions can be thought of alongside any arguments the SEC would make that we do not get to carry a case in opposition to them,” Invoice Hughes, a lawyer representing the Ethereum growth studio, mentioned in a publish on his X social media account.
The court docket’s ruling is predicted round Christmas, in line with Hughes. Opening briefs on dispositive motions are scheduled to be filed earlier than Sept. 20.
As reported by U.Right this moment, the event studio, which is helmed by Ethereum co-founder Joe Lubin, took the SEC to court docket in April with a view to thwart the company’s try to broaden its jurisdiction over digital property by labelling the most important different cryptocurrency as a safety.
This got here after the SEC indicated that it could carry an enforcement motion in opposition to the MetaMask developer over alleged violations of securities legal guidelines. In flip, Consensys began injunctive and declaratory reduction.
Final month, the formidable regulatory company dropped its investigation into Ethereum 2.0, that means that the company won’t allege that the gross sales of the second-largest cryptocurrency constituted securities transactions. Nevertheless, the SEC ended up bringing a lawsuit in opposition to Consensys throughout the identical month, arguing that the Metamask developer didn’t register as a dealer.