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post: ? SEC SUED OVER ETHEREUM, CRYPTO FIRM ASKS COURT TO STATE TOKEN IS NOT A SECURITY “The SEC’s unlawful seizure of authority over ETH would spell disaster for the Ethereum network, and for Consensys. Every holder of ETH, including Consensys, would fear violating the securities…Consensys sues the SEC in defense of the Ethereum ecosystem Consensys, the leading blockchain and web3 software technology company, today filed a lawsuit (the "complaint") against the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") to ensure that Ethereum remains a vibrant and indispensable blockchain platform and the foundation for countless new web3 innovations, technologies, and products. The complaint highlights how the SEC is attempting to unlawfully regulate ether through ad hoc enforcement actions against Consensys and possibly others -- the latest examples of aggressive and unlawful SEC overreach. If allowed to expand its regulatory purview, the SEC would effectively destroy value for hundreds of millions of ether holders and bring use of the Ethereum blockchain in the United States to a halt, crippling the technological evolution of the internet. "The case we have filed today is intended to preserve access for the thousands of developers, market participants, and institutions who have a stake in the world's second largest blockchain," said Joe Lubin, Co-founder of Ethereum and Founder/CEO of Consensys. "The SEC cannot be allowed to arbitrarily expand its jurisdiction to regulate what is plainly and by the SEC's own prior admission a commodity. We are hopeful that the case brings attention to – and ultimately halts -- the SEC's reckless approach and restores the kind of regulatory certainty and sanity that is so essential to web3 technologies and a well-functioning innovation economy." The complaint seeks the Court's confirmation that the SEC has no legal authority to regulate ether, user-controlled software interfaces built on Ethereum, or the Ethereum blockchain in general on the basis that: The SEC only has jurisdiction over securities, and up until recently has agreed that ether, the digital good that permits users to access and transact on the Ethereum network, is not and should not be treated as a security. The SEC has no legal authority to regulate the technological evolution of the in