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On June 28, 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission published a release entitled “SEC Charges Consensys Software for Unregistered Offers and Sales of Securities Through Its MetaMask Staking Service.” The release further stated that “since  at least January 2023, Consensys has offered and sold tens of thousands of unregistered securities on behalf of liquid staking program providers Lido and Rocket Pool, who create and issue liquid staking tokens (called stETH and rETH) in exchange for staked assets.”

Further, the release stated that while “staked tokens are generally locked up and cannot be traded or used while they are staked, liquid staking tokens, as the name implies, can be bought and sold freely. Investors in these staking programs provided funds to Lido and Rocket Pool in exchange for the liquid tokens. 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.”