Illinois is set to withdraw its staking lawsuit against Coinbase, aligning with three other U.S. states that have recently opted to drop legal action against the cryptocurrency exchange.
A representative for the Illinois Secretary of State, Alexi Giannoulias, confirmed on Thursday that the office “plans to drop the Coinbase lawsuit,” although they did not provide a timeline for when this might occur.
Illinois was among ten states that filed charges against Coinbase in 2023, accusing the exchange of breaching state securities laws through its staking program. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) also pursued charges against Coinbase for infringing federal securities laws regarding its staking product but dismissed that case in February. Following the SEC’s decision to withdraw, securities regulators in Kentucky, Vermont, and South Carolina have also ceased their legal proceedings against Coinbase.
Currently, Alabama, California, Maryland, New Jersey, Washington, and Wisconsin are the remaining states still pursuing staking-related lawsuits against the exchange. Representatives from California, Maryland, and Wisconsin refrained from commenting on ongoing litigation.
A spokesperson for the New Jersey Bureau of Securities mentioned that the “Coinbase matter remains active,” while Bill Beatty, the securities administrator for Washington’s Department of Financial Institutions, confirmed that the state’s “case with Coinbase is still active at this moment.”
The Alabama Securities Commission has not responded to inquiries regarding the matter.