With the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit against his Ethereum software firm seemingly drawing to a close, Joe Lubin—Consensys founder and CEO, and also an Ethereum co-founder—is feeling positive about the future of crypto in the U.S.

Catching up with Decrypt at ETH Denver 2025, Lubin shared his perspective on a significant shift: he believes there’s been a real ‘sea change’ between the Biden and Trump administrations, especially now that Trump is back in office since January.

“Things have really changed,” Lubin remarked on Friday. “It’s a completely new approach. We’re actually having productive conversations with the SEC now, which is a welcome change from what felt like irrational attacks before.”

He went on to say, “We feel truly liberated. We’re genuinely excited to be building in an America that’s embracing decentralization, rather than trying to micromanage every little thing.”

If you remember the 2024 presidential campaign, then-candidate Trump made promises about creating a more crypto-friendly environment in the U.S.

Back in July 2024, Consensys found themselves in the SEC’s crosshairs. They were sued over MetaMask’s staking service, accused of offering and selling unregistered securities. Many people felt that under the SEC leadership of Gary Gensler at the time, the agency was resorting to ‘regulation by enforcement’ instead of giving the blockchain industry clear rules to work with in the U.S.

Then, just this past Thursday, Consensys announced some good news: the SEC has agreed to drop its lawsuit – pending formal commissioner approval, of course. This announcement actually mirrored similar positive updates from other big players like Coinbase, Robinhood, Uniswap Labs, and OpenSea. It seems like the SEC has been on a bit of a streak lately, closing investigations and dropping active lawsuits against crypto companies left and right.

This SEC case is wrapping up during a period of real growth for Consensys and their MetaMask wallet. In fact, right here at ETH Denver, MetaMask just revealed that they’re adding support for both Bitcoin and Solana – a major expansion beyond the wallet’s traditional Ethereum and EVM focus. (Full disclosure: Consensys is one of Decrypt’s 22 investors, keeping us editorially independent.)

Lubin also pointed out that since Trump took office, U.S. government agencies seem to be much more open to learning about blockchain and crypto staking.

“And it’s not just the SEC,” he continued. “Other parts of the government are starting to truly recognize the potential of our technology and are looking into ways to support it. Whether it’s through stablecoins, market structures, or even initiatives like David Sacks’ crypto and AI work – things are definitely accelerating.”