Consensys

Consensys is a software company founded by Joseph Lubin, one of the co-founders of Ethereum, to build products on that network. For most of its history it ran both consumer and institutional businesses under one roof: the MetaMask wallet, the Infura node service, the Linea layer 2 network, Ethereum client software and services for banks and enterprises. In March 2022 it said it had nearly 700 full-time employees and raised $450 million at a valuation above $7 billion, its last disclosed funding round.

Its homepage now describes a narrower company. Consensys lists four products: Lineth, the open-source zero-knowledge rollup stack that runs Linea; Besu, an Ethereum client for public and private networks; Teku, an Ethereum consensus client aimed at institutional staking; and Web3Signer, a remote signing service for validator keys. MetaMask and Infura are not on it.

Consensys is privately held and has no stock. Searches for a Consensys stock price or Consensys token have no direct answer: the company holds LINEA tokens but has not issued a token of its own.

On 9 September 2026 Consensys Software Inc. announced it would become two independently operated companies. The existing legal entity keeps its identity and rebrands as MetaMask, running the wallet and other consumer products with Joseph Lubin as Chairman and CEO. The Protocols Group and institutional infrastructure business become a newly formed company called Consensys, led by CEO Mike Kriak and President David Cunningham, with Lubin as Executive Chairman. The companies said they would operate independently from the announcement and that the separation should be finished by the end of 2026.

The new Consensys takes Linea, Besu, Teku and its enterprise and Ethereum protocol work. The announcement did not say where Infura goes; Infura's own website now carries the label 'Now part of MetaMask Developer' while its footer still calls it a Consensys formation. MetaMask's privacy notice, revised 1 October 2026, distinguishes Consensys Software Inc. (doing business as MetaMask) from Consensys Incorporated as separate legal entities, and the consensys.com terms and privacy files carry the Consensys Incorporated name.

For MetaMask users nothing changes in the wallet itself. For anyone dealing with Consensys as a business, contracts for Infura, Linea services or enterprise software should be checked for which entity they are with after the separation.

Linea is an Ethereum layer 2 built by Consensys that uses zero-knowledge proofs to batch transactions and settle them on Ethereum. It has run in production since 2023. In May 2026 its software stack was renamed Lineth and contributed to Linux Foundation Decentralized Trust, where a technical steering committee oversees it; Linea's documentation describes Linea as the public network and brand, and Lineth as the stack that powers it. Lineth's execution layer is built on Besu.

Gas on Linea is paid in ETH; you do not need the LINEA token to use the network. LINEA launched in September 2025. Its documentation sets the maximum supply at 72,009,990,000 tokens, of which Consensys holds 15%, locked and non-transferable for five years, and 85% goes to the ecosystem through airdrops and a long-term fund managed by the Linea Consortium. LINEA has no governance rights. After infrastructure costs, surplus network revenue is burned: 20% as ETH and 80% by buying and burning LINEA.

Besu is an open-source Ethereum client that can run on the public network or on private, permissioned networks; Teku is a full Ethereum client that Consensys pitches at institutional staking. Together they let a bank or staking firm run its own Ethereum nodes. According to The Block, Citi, DTC and BNY use Consensys's Besu infrastructure. Web3Signer keeps validator signing keys separate from the nodes that use them.

This work is sold to businesses, not to retail users. Consensys does not publish pricing for it; terms are agreed per contract. For individuals, the main contact with Consensys products is indirect, through Linea or through apps that run on Besu-based networks.

Consensys's main regulatory event was the SEC lawsuit filed on 28 June 2024 in the Eastern District of New York. The SEC alleged that since January 2023 MetaMask Staking had been an unregistered offer of securities, and that through MetaMask Staking and MetaMask Swaps Consensys had acted as an unregistered broker, collecting more than $250 million in fees. On 27 February 2025 Lubin said the SEC had agreed to drop it, and the company's lawyer told reporters there would be no fines or conditions.

Both businesses in question now sit with the MetaMask company after the split. The staking operation, renamed MetaMask Staking, was the part of the group affected by an infrastructure security incident disclosed on 30 September 2026; MetaMask said it found no indication that wallets or customer funds were affected. That incident is covered on the MetaMask profile because it belongs to the MetaMask side of the split.

Consensys has been preparing for a public listing. CoinDesk reported on 13 May 2026, citing people familiar, that it had aimed to file a draft registration with the SEC around the end of February 2026 with JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs as leads, and had pushed the plan to autumn 2026 at the earliest after crypto markets fell. The company said it does not comment on market speculation.

No registration statement had been made public as of 29 October 2026. After the September split, coverage suggested a listing could come from the MetaMask company rather than from the new Consensys; neither company has confirmed a timeline. Any figures for revenue, profit or valuation beyond the 2022 round are therefore estimates, not disclosures.

Consensys's site links to X, LinkedIn, YouTube, Discord and Instagram, and its code is on GitHub under the Consensys organization. Developer support for Besu, Teku and Lineth runs through their documentation and community channels, including the LF Decentralized Trust Discord for Lineth. Wallet questions belong with MetaMask support, not Consensys.

Consensys has no token of its own to sell or airdrop, so any message offering a Consensys token is not from the company. LINEA claims should only be checked through linea.build.

Dated milestones:

• Founded by Joseph Lubin; MetaMask, launched in 2016, was its best-known product until the 2026 split.
• 15 March 2022: $450 million Series D at a valuation above $7 billion.
• 2023: Linea mainnet in production.
• 28 June 2024: SEC lawsuit over MetaMask Staking and Swaps; SEC agreed to drop it in February 2025.
• September 2025: LINEA token launched.
• May 2026: Linea stack contributed to Linux Foundation Decentralized Trust as Lineth; IPO reported delayed.
• 9 September 2026: split into MetaMask and a new Consensys announced.