Professional-Ethereum conglomerate Consensys has introduced a mass spherical of layoffs that its founder and CEO Joe Lubin has primarily blamed on the Securities and Trade Fee’s (SEC) “abuse of power” and “attacks.”
In a weblog publish saying the 162 “right-size” job cuts — 19.5% of its 828 workers — Lubin additionally known as out Congress for its “inability to rectify” Consensys’ authorized woes.
The SEC is suing Consensys for a number of worthwhile enterprise items that allegedly violate US legislation. In its June 28 swimsuit, commissioners defined that Consensys’ Swaps characteristic of its MetaMask software program acts as an unregistered dealer that results securities transactions on behalf of traders. Furthermore, they are saying Consensys additionally bought unregistered securities by its MetaMask Staking.
For its half, the agency primarily argues that customers management MetaMask software program and don’t depend on Consensys for these transactions. The SEC has counterargued in detailed courtroom filings that the conglomerate’s suite of code, hosted providers, nodes, relayers, and human-directed decisions not solely make MetaMask indispensable for a lot of customers but additionally display the corporate’s willful and worthwhile violations of legislation.
The principle lawsuit is ongoing within the US District Courtroom for the Japanese District of New York. The subsequent assembly is scheduled for November 20 to set a schedule for proof discovery.
Consensys has already misplaced one lawsuit in opposition to the SEC
Consensys has failed in lots of its makes an attempt to fend off SEC enforcement. Earlier this yr, it preemptively sued the SEC after it acquired a Wells Discover.
On September 19, a federal choose dismissed that try. Lubin had requested a Texan courtroom to rule that ETH transactions have been one way or the other not securities transactions as a result of they concerned ETH, prohibit the SEC from suing corporations for utilizing ETH, and bless its Ethereum-friendly MetaMask pockets. The choose declined all of Lubin’s requests.
Consensys beforehand laid off 100 of its then-900 staff in January 2023. In 2018, when the corporate had some 1,200 staff, a layoff affected roughly 600 staff.
