Since early 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been investigating whether Ethereum should be classified as a security, according to new court filings. This investigation was highlighted in a lawsuit by Consensys, which mentioned an internal Formal Order from March 2023 by the SEC's Division of Enforcement focusing on Ethereum 2.0 and transactions without registration. Despite this ongoing scrutiny, the SEC approved nine Ether futures ETFs later in the year, raising questions about the consistency of their regulatory approach towards Ethereum.