The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) shifted its stance on the cryptocurrency industry, dismissing legal proceedings against several major crypto firms.
On March 3, 2025, the SEC agreed to withdraw its lawsuit against Kraken, closing the case without finding any violations and without imposing any fines.
Following a leadership change in 2025, the SEC is now actively reviewing and dismissing open cases against crypto companies. In late February, the agency dropped its lawsuit against Coinbase, one of the largest U.S. crypto exchanges, bringing an end to a years-long legal battle. Moreover, the SEC halted its investigation into Robinhood, with its enforcement division confirming the case’s closure and stating that no further enforcement actions would be taken.
In June 2023, the SEC accused Coinbase of violating U.S. securities laws by allegedly facilitating the trade of unregistered securities. Kraken was under scrutiny since November 2023 for allegedly enabling illegal cryptocurrency transactions, while Robinhood received a Wells Notice from the SEC in mid-2024.
The SEC also dropped investigations and legal actions against the following crypto firms:
- Concensys;
- OpenSea ;
- Uniswap ;
- Gemini ;
- Yuga Labs .
Cases against Binance and TRON were put on hold, but legal proceedings remain ongoing against Ripple, Cumberland DRW, and Pulsechain. Investigations into Unicoin, Crypto.com, and Immutable are also still active.
The SEC’s policy shift under new Chair Mark Wade reflects a push for more productive engagement with the crypto industry. According to Rebecca Fike, Former SEC Enforcement Attorney, the regulator is expected to drop all pending cases based on the Howey Test as grounds for targeting crypto companies. She believes the SEC will likely focus only on firms involved in fraud or violations of investor protection laws.
