This momentum has changed in the years of battle between top crypto companies and protocols, and the Securities and Exchange Commission under the new Trump administration.
Regulator, now Cryptographic Task Force Leading by longtime industrial advocate Hester Peirce, it has shifted from what Pierce and others call “enforcement regulation,” to hostile engagement with cryptography.
So far, these words can be true as the SEC has been away from the fight against multiple top crypto companies recently. This is the SEC’s biggest pivot, reversal and exit under Trump so far.
Binance
Following the joint request, a US district judge granted Binance 60-day suspension In its ongoing legal battle with the SEC, it gave both parties the opportunity to reassess the changing regulatory environment.
Stays are valid until April 14th. At that time, the parties will need to submit a status report. And since the stay was granted, the SEC has concluded many other investigations and lawsuits.
The exchange has dealt with security, money laundering and sanctions compliance issues since at least 2023, leading to two separate settlements. $4.3 billion and $2.7 billionrespectively.
Cryptographic Rule Case
February 17th, SEC Voluntarily withdraws the appeal The case revolves around previous regulatory attempts to extend securities laws to decentralized financial (DEFI) applications and users.
The appeal comes after a federal judge in Texas called the extended definition of regulators, citing it confusing debt traders with financial brokers.
The dropped appeal ensures that the Defi protocol does not need to be registered with the SEC as a stock exchange, allowing Blockchain Association CEO Kristin Smith to call it “they.”A complete and complete victory.”
Coinbase
It is located at the major American crypto exchange Coinbase. The lawsuit has been formally dismissed By the SEC in February.
Suit, that Submitted in 2023claiming that the platform will deliberately act as an unregistered stock exchange, and will specifically invoke tokens like Solana and Polygons in the process.
In a statement on movement, the committee I said that decision “The termination is based on the decision to promote the Committee’s continued efforts to reform and update its regulatory approach to the crypto industry.”
Before official approval, Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grawal described the firing, saying, “There will be no settlement or compromise — it will be wrong.”
opensea
It is available in SEC The investigation has been completed He told NFT Marketplace Opensea that in February the company dropped a claim that it allegedly operated as an unlicensed securities broker. The platform showed it I’ve received a notification for Wells The regulatory authority in August 2024 signal that the SEC will take action against it.
“This is a victory for everyone who creates and builds in our space,” said Devin Finzer, CEO of Opensea. “To classify NFTs as securities would have been something that misinterpreted the law and delayed innovation.”
Robinhood Crypto
Seconds Robin Hood’s Investigation–What the platform claimed should never be opened – regulators have not taken action.
“As explained to the SEC, the lawsuit against Robinhood Crypto would have failed,” said Dan Gallagher, Chief Legal and Compliance and Corporate Affairs Officer at Robinhood. “We are grateful for the formal closure of this investigation. We are pleased to see our return to the rule of law and to see our commitment to fairness in the SEC.”
The company was notified of potential enforcement actions in May 2024. When I receive it Wells notification from Gary Gensler-led Sec.
UNSWAP Lab
Uniswap Labs, creator of Ethereum Ethereum’s distributed Exchange Uniswap, said in February that SEC has The investigation has been completed To the organization without submitting a fee.
Like other major crypto organizations, Uniswap Labs I’ve received a notification for Wells In April 2024, it claimed it was operated as an unregistered securities broker, exchange and clearing agency, allowing for the sale of unregistered security.
All of the aforementioned claims have been removed as the investigation is said to have been completed, CEO Hayden Adams said.
“They followed us despite the lack of clear legal basis as part of their arbitrary enforcement strategy to enforce Defi into an inappropriate regulatory framework, refusing to provide clear rules and paths to compliance.” He posted on x. “This is a huge victory not only for Uniswap Labs, but for Defi as a whole.”
Gemini Trust
a Two-year survey to Gemini Trust on unregistered sales of securities that ended last week without enforcement action from the committee.
Gemini co-founder Cameron Winklevoss has noticed the milestone I said “It rarely makes up for the damage this institution has done to us, our industry, to America.”
Winklevoss estimated that regulators “lost tens of millions of legal costs and hundreds of millions of people with the loss of productivity, creativity and innovation.”
Justin San/Tron
Like Binance, Justin San, Tron A joint complaint has been filed Alongside the SEC to temporarily maintain regulatory cases in the hopes of finding a solution.
The case dates back to 2023, when SEC claimed that SUC made more than 600,000 laundry transactions to create a misleading Tron (TRX) volume, resulting in a profit of around $32 million. The joint submission indicates that resolutions are beneficial for the “protection of judicial resources.”
Consensy
Consensee, the parent company of MetaMask and Lenay, was officially rejected on March 27th, focusing on the functionality within MetaMask.
“We were working to fight this lawsuit until the bitter end and we welcome the outcome,” Consensey founder and CEO Joseph Rubin said when the committee was expected to drop the case. “Now we can bring 100% back into the building. 2025 will be the best year ever for Ethereum and Consensy.”
(Disclosure: Consensys is one of 22 editorially independent decryption investors.)
Kraken
The committee agreed to drop the latest lawsuit on US centralized exchange Kraken, saying the company pending approval from the committee on March 3. The approval came on March 27th, and the lawsuit was officially dropped.
The SEC initially alleged that the company violated the securities law with its staking system as a service. The lawsuit settled in February 2023, and Kraken agreed to pay a $30 million fine.
However, regulators sued the platform again in November 2023, claiming it was operating as an unregistered stock exchange, dealer and broker. The lawsuit was “in principle agreed” to drop.
In conclusion, the exchange showed that “no entry or penalty for fraud has been paid and no changes to our business.”
Yuga Labs
Yuga Labs, creator of the boring APE Yacht Club, announced on March 3 that the SEC had concluded its investigation into the company.
The investigation has been underway since 2022, with regulators scrutinizing the company’s NFT offering and the launch of Apecoin tokens. The creation of the Ethereum Token was officially created in “Apecoin Dao.”
“This is a huge victory for the NFTS and all creators to advance the ecosystem,” he wrote on X. “NFTs are not securities.”
Horizen Labs
Horizen Labs representatives have been confirmed Decryption On March 4th, due to its connection with the launch of Apecoin, the company’s investigation was terminated by the SEC with no enforcement measures recommendations.
“You can say how much weight we put off our shoulders is how much it weighs for someone who just builds and is always trying to do the right thing,” CEO Rob Viglione said. “Looks like many people have done, the Horizon Lab may have gone offshore, but despite the war on cryptography, we have chosen to stay in the US.”
Cumberland DRW
The market maker Cumberland lawsuit was officially dropped on March 27th along with another pair of crypto cases. The committee filed a lawsuit against the company in October 2024, claiming it served as an unregistered dealer for the securities.
“As a company that is deeply committed to the principles of integrity and transparency, we look forward to continuing our dialogue with the SEC to shape a future in which technological advancements and clarity of regulations go hand in hand.”
bitclout
The SEC and the Justice Department both agreed to drop the case against Bitclout founder Nader Al-Naji after he allegedly scamned the investor.
Bitclout, a social network that tokenized Twitter (now X) accounts, has been backed by prominent crypto investors such as Andreessen Horowitz and Coinbase Ventures.
Ripples
Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said on March 19 that the lawsuit against the SEC company is over, a Ripple spokesman reported. Decryption The conclusion is that approval by the SEC Commissioner, similar to other recent case terminations, is pending.
“We can finally announce that this incident is over,” Garlinghouse told X’s followers in the video.
The longest battle between regulators and crypto companies dates back to a 2021 allegation over the unregistered sale of securities by XRP. In 2023, the partial ruling mostly favored Ripple, but later appealed by the SEC. According to Garlinghouse, that appeal has now been removed, but at the time of writing, the SEC has not confirmed the announcement.
crypto.com
Crypto.com sued the SEC in October 2024 after receiving Wells’ notice from regulators about potential securities violations.
However, now the committee has concluded its investigation into the platform and will not submit enforcement action.
The SEC investigation into https://t.co/pfc4pz9nfr has been closed and no action has been taken against https://t.co/pfc4pz9nfr.
– Chris | crypto.com (@kris) March 27, 2025
“We are pleased that the current SEC leadership has decided to close crypto.com investigations without enforcement action or settlement,” Nick Randglen, chief legal officer of crypto.com, said in a statement. “Compliance and integrity are at the heart of Crypto.com’s business and we are excited to work with Atkins, the fast-finished chair, and the rest of the committee on the much-anticipated desire for legislation and rulemaking.”
Unchanging
After receiving Wells’ notification in October 2024, the Ethereum-based gaming company announced on March 25 that the SEC had concluded its investigation into the company.
The survey centers on potential securities violations over the sale of IMX tokens in 2021, with Immunity raising at least $12.5 million.
“That investigation is now officially closed, with zero fraud detections and the SEC has not taken action,” Immutch posted on X.
Hawk Tuah Girl
Harry Welch, known as the “Hawk Tua” girl, is TMZ The SEC investigation into her memecoin fiasco has concluded.
“I have worked with all the authorities and lawyers over the past few months, and at the end, the job has been completed,” Welch told the outlet.
In December, internet celebrities launched Solana’s meme coin (Hawk). This was horribly wrong, leading to the Ragpur allegation as the token price collapsed quickly after launch. The team behind the token denied any fraud.
Edited by James Rubin and Andrew Hayward
Editor’s Note: This story was originally released on March 2, 2025, and lastly updated with new details on March 31.
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