The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has dropped or paused over a dozen ongoing crypto cases since President Donald Trump retook office, citing the need to reassess securities laws for digital assets.
Over the past two months, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has dropped or paused over a dozen ongoing cases since President Donald Trump retook office and appointed Commissioner Mark Uyeda as acting chair.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is a US government agency responsible for regulating the securities industry.
Its primary goal is to protect investors by maintaining fair, efficient, and transparent markets.
The SEC oversees companies that issue stocks, bonds, and other investment products.
It enforces federal securities laws, investigates market abuses, and provides investor education.
With its headquarters in Washington D.C., the SEC has five regional offices across the country.
As of 2022, the SEC has a staff of over 4,000 employees.
In many court filings, the SEC argued that it needs to pull these cases while the regulator’s new crypto task force reassesses how exactly it applies securities laws to digital assets. However, in at least some of these cases, the SEC is leaving itself no recourse to sue again should it find some cryptos from previously active suits are indeed securities.
Ripple announced it had reached an agreement with the SEC to drop both the SEC’s appeal of a federal judge’s 2023 ruling and Ripple’s cross-appeal. As part of the agreement, Ripple will receive back $75 million of the $125 million fine it was assessed by a federal judge.
Ripple is a real-time gross settlement system (RTGS) that enables fast and secure international money transfers.
It uses a distributed ledger technology to facilitate cross-border payments, reducing transaction costs and increasing efficiency.
Founded in 2012 by Chris Larsen and Jed McCaleb, Ripple has gained popularity among banks and financial institutions due to its scalability and reliability.
The platform supports multiple currencies, including XRP, which is used for liquidity provision and settlement.
Coinbase announced last month it had reached an agreement with the SEC to drop the regulator’s ongoing case against it. The SEC filed to withdraw the case with prejudice — meaning it cannot bring the same charges again — and a judge signed off on the withdrawal at the end of February.
The SEC said it would drop its case against ConsenSys over the MetaMask wallet, CEO Joe Lubin said last month. A joint stipulation dismissing the case with prejudice was filed on March 27.
The SEC told Kraken it would drop its case against the exchange alleging it violated securities laws and commingled customer and corporate funds earlier this month.
The SEC told Cumberland DRW it would drop its case alleging it was acting as an unregistered securities dealer earlier this month. The parties agreed in principle to dismiss this litigation with prejudice, pending further details.
A federal judge dismissed the SEC’s suit against Pulsechain and HEX, saying the agency did not plausibly show that the project targeted U.S. investors and that it had jurisdiction over the case.
The SEC told Immutable Labs it closed its investigation into the Web3 gaming firm, citing no wrongdoing by the company.
The SEC closed its investigation into Yuga Labs, the NFT firm said earlier this month.
The SEC told trading platform Robinhood it closed its investigation into the company.
The SEC closed its investigation into OpenSea, the NFT marketplace’s CEO said late last month.
The SEC closed its investigation into Uniswap Labs, the firm announced last month.
The SEC closed its investigation into Gemini, co-founder Cameron Winklevoss said last month.
The SEC and Binance filed to pause the regulator’s case for 60 days in early February. The judge overseeing the case paused it until April 14, ordering the parties to file a joint status report by then.
Binance is a global Binance is a global cryptocurrency exchange platform founded in 2017 by Changpeng Zhao.
It allows users to trade over 500 cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and many others.
The platform provides advanced trading features such as margin trading, spot trading, and futures trading.
Binance also offers a range of services, including staking, lending, and savings products.
With its user-friendly interface and competitive fees, Binance has become one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world.
The SEC and the Tron Foundation filed to pause the SEC’s case for 60 days in late February. The judge granted the motion, which should bring the new deadline to around April 27.
Crypto.com announced on March 27 that the SEC had closed its case into the crypto exchange and would not take any enforcement action.
Unicoin appears to be the only publicly-disclosed ongoing investigation by the SEC. However, its CEO has asked the agency to close that investigation as well.
This week, President Trump pardoned Arthur Hayes, Ben Delo, and Sam Reed, the co-founders of BitMEX. The three had all previously pleaded guilty to Bank Secrecy Act violations and were sentenced to parole.
Other notable developments include a Venmo account connected to National Security Advisor Michael Waltz leaving its transactions public until after the news organization reached out about it.
The status of every SEC crypto case is constantly evolving, with new developments emerging on a daily basis. It’s essential for investors and market participants to stay informed about these cases to avoid potential pitfalls.
- coindesk.com | Where All the SEC Cases Are
