Consensys’ legal battle against the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has uncovered new details about the SEC’s position on Ether (ETH), according to a report by Eleanor Terret, a producer at Fox Business. Terret, citing court documents filed by Consensys, stated that the SEC and its chair, Gary Gensler, had believed Ether to be an unregistered security that was not in compliance with federal regulations for at least a year. This revelation came shortly after Consensys filed a complaint against the SEC, revealing the regulator’s plans to sue the firm for violating federal securities laws. The new filing also disclosed that the SEC’s Division of Enforcement had initiated an investigation into Ether’s status as a security on March 28, 2023, giving enforcement staff the authority to investigate and subpoena individuals and entities involved in the trading of the cryptocurrency. The investigation, referred to as the “Ethereum 2.0” investigation, was based on the SEC’s belief that unregistered offerings and sales of Ether had taken place since 2018. If the SEC under Gensler determines that Ether is a security, it would contradict the previous stance of the SEC under former Chair Jay Clayton, who stated in 2018 that Ether, along with Bitcoin, was not considered a security. The recent filings also revealed that the five-member commission approved the “Ethereum 2.0” investigation just five days before Gensler appeared before the House Financial Services Committee, where he declined to answer questions regarding the SEC’s position on Ether. The timing of these disclosures coincided with speculations that the SEC might delay its decision on approving a spot Ether exchange-traded fund in the U.S. Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas suggested that Gensler’s stance on Ether could influence the decision-making process, given his previous reluctance to clarify the security status of Ether.