TechFlow news — On February 21, according to the Wall Street Journal, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has agreed to drop its two-year-long lawsuit against Coinbase, marking an end to the regulator's era of aggressive enforcement actions in the crypto market. Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal called this a "significant moment for Coinbase and the crypto industry," emphasizing the company’s readiness to defend its position at all costs. Previously, during the Biden administration, the SEC had sought to bring cryptocurrencies under investor protection rules through this litigation.
The shift in the SEC's stance was anticipated following Trump's election. Trump supports the development of the cryptocurrency industry and has pledged to ease tensions between the sector and the SEC. Notably, the SEC has begun disbanding its special enforcement unit dedicated to investigating crypto firms. This unit previously took legal action against exchanges such as Coinbase, Binance, and Kraken under former Chair Gary Gensler.
Acting Chair Mark Uyeda stated that a newly formed SEC task force is now considering how to revise the regulatory approach established during Gensler's tenure. Currently, Congress is drafting new legislation that may classify most cryptocurrencies as commodities, potentially shifting regulatory authority to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Meanwhile, the SEC's lawsuits against Binance and Kraken are still ongoing, although a federal court in Washington, D.C. has granted the regulator's request to pause proceedings in the Binance case.
