A federal judge overseeing the lawsuit between software firm Consensys and the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has approved a timeline for the case. Judge Reed O’Connor granted a motion requiring both parties to file their opening and opposition briefs by September and November, respectively. The SEC was also granted a 28-day extension to respond to the complaint. As part of the timeline, all five SEC commissioners and the regulator must file their answers by July 29, with reply briefs filed by November 26. Consensys’ senior counsel, Bill Hughes, expects a ruling on the case in December.
In April, Consensys filed a lawsuit against the SEC, accusing the regulator of trying to control the future of cryptocurrency through enforcement actions targeting Ether (ETH) as a security. In June, Consensys reported that the SEC had dropped its investigation into ETH, but the SEC retaliated by filing its own lawsuit, alleging that Consensys had operated as an unregistered broker.
Legal experts in the cryptocurrency field have been closely following the case due to its potential implications for the SEC’s authority. The commission has several ongoing lawsuits against crypto firms, including Coinbase, Binance, and Ripple. Commissioner Mark Uyeda, who is also named in the Consensys lawsuit, criticized the SEC’s approach to crypto as “problematic” in an unrelated statement.
Both the SEC and Consensys filed their lawsuits before the U.S. Supreme Court issued two opinions that could impact the commission’s handling of enforcement cases. One opinion stated that defendants in SEC civil cases involving securities fraud were entitled to a jury trial, while the other required courts to determine whether federal agencies like the SEC acted within their statutory authority.