The Securities and Exchange Commission has agreed to drop its legal case against Coinbase, the exchange said Friday, pending approval by the regulator's commissioners. But it's just one The agency has undertaken several steps since President Donald Trump’s inauguration to further its shift towards a crypto-friendly approach.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong stated Friday that the SEC has a violation of their contract. The case was settled The trading platform is being sued. Armstrong stated that, in the event the plan was approved, the regulator would not fine the U.S. largest crypto exchange based on its daily trading volume when they close the case.
This is one of the latest signals from federal regulators that they are softer on digital assets.
Trump, who was pro-crypto during the election campaign, vowed on the campaign trail to pressure the SEC into ending its crypto crackdown. He also promised to amplify tech-friendly voices in the Capitol Hill. Now we're seeing that plan in action, though it's still early days for the SEC's turnaround.
More on the new task force
Trump fulfilled his promises in December last year. Paul Atkins has been named as the new pro-crypto As SEC Chair, Atkins will lead a reversal on digital assets. Since then, the agency has made a slew of changes to its crypto agenda ahead of Atkins' confirmation.
The Commission met on Wednesday. You can also choose to do so voluntarily Its own appeal dismissed The ruling prevented federal regulators to expand the application of securities law to projects and users decentralized in finance.
The regulator then announced that it will be implementing the new regulations a day later. Create a unit to fight crypto-crime The following are some of the ways to get in touch with us: “focus on combating cyber-related misconduct and to protect retail investors from bad actors in the emerging technologies space.”
This new committee replaces the SEC Crypto Assets and Cyber UnitThe agency has abandoned its attempts to limit the power of digital asset companies during the Biden Administration.
In January, one day after Trump's inauguration, Acting SEC Chair Mark Uyeda announced the formation of a crypto task force at the agency. Leading the task force will be crypto-friendly commissioner Hester Peirce. The goal is to determine a new path for U.S. regulation of crypto following the strict enforcement-heavy policy adopted by the prior administration.
"The SEC can do better," The regulator has announced the formation of a task force.
Peirce’s thoughts about the formation of a task force were expressed in a February article: "It took us a long time to get into this mess, and it is going to take us some time to get out of it."
Also this month, the SEC and crypto exchange Binance jointly requested a 60-day pause to their case—which was granted on Feb. 14—due to the changing regulatory dynamics, including the creation of the SEC's crypto task force.
A new era
The SEC, under the former chairman Gary Gensler brought enforcement action against over a dozen companies in the digital asset space, such as Ripple, Binance.US and Kraken, as well the decentralized exchange Uniswap.
The SEC filed a lawsuit against Coinbase at the same time. It claimed that the company was operating as a securities exchange without registration and had failed to notify federal regulators about its crypto-staking program.
It appears that such court battles are a thing in the past under President Trump. Trump said that holders and crypto companies will be treated favorably under his second presidency.
“We will have regulations, but from now on, the rules will be written by people who love your industry, not hate your industry,” Trump stated this last summer, at the Bitcoin 2024 conferences in Nashville.
James Rubin, Editor
