Where All the SEC Cases Are

Since U.S. President Donald Trump resumed office a little over two months ago and appointed Mark Uyeda as his interim chair, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has either dismissed or paused more than a dozen ongoing cases (including one loss).

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The Overview

The SEC seems to have resolved nearly all of its pending cryptocurrency cases — at least those that have been made public — in the two months since Mark Uyeda’s appointment as acting chair. In several court documents, the SEC claimed it needed to withdraw these cases as the agency’s new crypto task force reviews the ways securities laws are applied to digital assets. However, in some instances, the SEC is not retaining the option to initiate lawsuits again if it later determines that certain cryptos involved in previous actions are indeed categorized as securities.

Significance

TKTK

Breaking It Down

• Ripple: Ripple has announced a settlement with the SEC to withdraw both the regulator’s appeal of a 2023 federal ruling and its own cross-appeal. Ripple is set to reclaim $75 million of the $125 million fine previously levied by a federal judge. The agreement does not yet appear in the public court filings.
• Coinbase: Last month, Coinbase confirmed it reached a settlement with the SEC to dismiss the regulator’s ongoing case against it. The SEC moved to withdraw the case with prejudice, meaning it cannot refile the same claims, and a judge approved the withdrawal at the end of February. The SEC had alleged that Solana (SOL), Cardano (ADA), Polygon (MATIC), Sandbox (SAND), Filecoin (FIL), Axie Infinity (AXS), Chiliz (CHZ), Flow (FLOW), Internet Computer (ICP), Near (NEAR), Voyager (VGX), Dash (DASH), and Nexo (NEXO) all appeared to be traded as securities in its initial lawsuit.
• ConsenSys: The SEC indicated it would withdraw its case against ConsenSys regarding the MetaMask wallet, as CEO Joe Lubin said last month. A joint stipulation to dismiss the case with prejudice was submitted on March 27. A court entry dated March 28 indicated the civil suit was concluded.
• Kraken: Earlier this month, the SEC notified Kraken that it would discontinue its case alleging violations of securities laws and mismanagement of customer and corporate funds. A joint stipulation to dismiss the case was submitted on March 27, although a judge has not yet signed off on it.
• Cumberland DRW: The SEC informed Cumberland DRW that it would terminate its case alleging the company was acting as an unregistered securities dealer. The SEC and Cumberland filed a motion to pause proceedings on March 18, stating that “the parties have agreed in principle to dismiss this litigation with prejudice,” but needed three weeks to resolve details. The presiding judge granted the motion, requiring the parties to submit a joint status report by April 8, unless the dismissal is filed by that time.
• Pulsechain: A federal judge dismissed the SEC’s action against Pulsechain and HEX, stating that the agency failed to convincingly demonstrate that the project targeted U.S. investors and that it had jurisdiction. The SEC has until April 21 to submit an amended complaint.
• Immutable: Immutable Labs announced that the SEC concluded its investigation into the Web3 gaming firm earlier this week.
• Yuga Labs: Yuga Labs reported earlier this month that the SEC closed its investigation into the NFT company.
• Robinhood: Robinhood stated late last month that the SEC closed its investigation concerning the trading platform.
• OpenSea: The CEO of OpenSea noted late last month that the SEC concluded its investigation into the NFT marketplace.
• Uniswap: Last month, Uniswap Labs declared that the SEC had ended its investigation into the firm.
• Gemini: Co-founder Cameron Winklevoss announced last month that the SEC had closed its investigation into Gemini.
• Binance: The SEC and Binance (along with various affiliated parties/co-defendants) filed to pause the regulator’s case for 60 days in early February. The presiding judge approved this pause until April 14, instructing the parties to submit a joint status report by that deadline. The SEC alleged commingling violations as well as breaches of securities laws, claiming that U.S. individuals were allowed to trade on the global platform.
• Tron Foundation: The SEC and the Tron Foundation (among various affiliated parties/co-defendants) filed to pause the SEC’s action for 60 days in late February. The judge overseeing the case granted the request, aiming for approximately an April 27 deadline. The SEC alleged market manipulation and fraud, among other violations related to securities law registration.
• Crypto.com: On March 27, Crypto.com revealed that the SEC had closed its investigation into the crypto exchange without taking any enforcement action. Trump Media, the firm behind Truth Social, is also partnering with the exchange for the issuance of exchange-traded products.
• Unicoin: Currently, Unicoin appears to be the sole publicly revealed ongoing investigation by the SEC, although its CEO has requested the agency to wrap that investigation up as well.
• HAWK: Last Thursday, Haliey Welch, whose “HAWK” token experienced significant volatility (dropping from a $491 million market cap to below $100 million in a matter of minutes) during its launch last year, told TMZ that the SEC had ceased its investigation into her.

• World Liberty Financial, Backed by Trump, Confirms Dollar Stablecoin Plans with BitGo: World Liberty Financial is set to introduce USD1, a stablecoin, on the Ethereum and BNB Chain networks.
• Trump Media Seeks Partnership with Crypto.com for ETP Issuance: Trump Media, the company behind the Truth Social platform, intends to launch cryptocurrency exchange-traded products in collaboration with Crypto.com.
• U.S. House’s Stablecoin Bill Likely to be Made Public, Lawmaker Reports: The latest draft of the stablecoin bill from the House is said to align more closely with the Senate’s GENIUS Bill, which has already progressed through committee, according to Rep. Bryan Steil at the Digital Chamber’s yearly conference.
• World Liberty Financial, Associated with Trump, Promotes Its Stablecoin in D.C. with Don Jr.: Donald Trump Jr. and leaders from World Liberty Financial showcased its new stablecoin at the Chamber event.
• SEC Ends Investigation into Web3 Gaming Firm Immutable: The SEC has closed another investigation, this time concerning Immutable.
• Former Russian Crypto Exchange Garantex Rebrands as Grinex, According to Global Ledger: Despite being sanctioned by the U.S. and facing international law enforcement action, some of Garantex’s operators are reportedly rebranding it as Grinex and relaunching.
• New Push for Crypto Bill to Combat Illicit Activities Following U.S. House Passage in 2024: Representatives Zach Nunn and Jim Himes have reintroduced the Financial Technology Protection Act.
• President Trump Grants Pardons to Arthur Hayes and 2 Other BitMEX Co-Founders: U.S. President Donald Trump has pardoned Arthur Hayes, Ben Delo, and Sam Reed, co-founders of BitMEX, who had previously pleaded guilty to violations of the Bank Secrecy Act and were sentenced to parole.
• Sei Foundation Considers Acquiring 23andMe to Put Genetic Data on Blockchain: This headline speaks for itself, though it raises intriguing questions about the implications of placing individual genetic data on an immutable public ledger.

Thursday

• 14:00 UTC (10:00 a.m. ET) Paul Atkins and Jonathan Gould (among others) appeared before the Senate Banking Committee for their confirmation hearing. Apart from some inquiries from Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) about Sam Bankman-Fried’s parents and a few other brief mentions of the FTX crisis, there were no questions pertaining to cryptocurrency.

• (The Atlantic) Editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg of The Atlantic shared that he was inadvertently included in a Signal group chat by National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, which included other prominent figures in the Trump Administration. In this chat, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth disclosed details about an imminent strike on Yemen shortly before it occurred. Middle East envoy (and World Liberty Financial investor) Steve Witkoff confirmed he was part of the chat using a personal device rather than a government-secured phone. Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, and John Ratcliffe, the CIA director, stated that the messages exchanged were not classified, and The Atlantic reported on it.
• (Wired) A Venmo account under the name “Michael Waltz” was reportedly linked to accounts connected to individuals closely associated with him, leaving its transaction history public until Wired reached out for comment.
• (The Verge) President Donald Trump dismissed Federal Trade Commissioners Alvaro Bedoya and Rebecca Slaughter, both Democrats, allegedly in violation of established Supreme Court precedents. Both commissioners have since filed lawsuits against Trump challenging their terminations.
• (The Washington Post) The IRS forecasts it will collect $500 billion less in 2025 than in 2024, according to a report.
• (The New York Times) According to reports, “SpaceX is positioning itself to secure billions of dollars in new federal contracts or other support.”
• (The Washington Post) Plainclothes officers apprehended Tufts University Ph.D. student Rumeysa Ozturk and transferred her to a facility in Louisiana. The Department of Homeland Security stated she “engaged in activities in support of Hamas” but has yet to provide any evidence to support this claim. Secretary of State Marco Rubio mentioned he revoked Ozturk’s visa due to her being “disruptive,” but does not seem to allege any criminal conduct.

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Catch you next week!