Good day everyone,
I hope you are all having a good day, welcome to CryptoGod-1's blog on all things crypto. In this post I will be looking at the relaxation of the crypto enforcement campaign by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
SEC Relax Aggressive Crypto Enforcement Campaign
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have decided to relax their aggressive crypto enforcement policy, which was brought about under former chairperson Gary Gensler. It was announced last Wednesday that the regulator has ended their investigation into Gemini, while they are also seeking a ‘pause’ in the case against Tron founder Justin Sun. The case against Robinhood Crypto was dropped back on the 21st of February along with the lawsuit against Coinbase, meaning the regulator is showing a much more favourable attitude towards crypto and exchanges. They have also announced there are no plans to pursue enforcement action against UniSwap.
The Winklevoss twins released a statement which noted that the SEC’s withdrawal against Gemini comes 699 days after the start of their investigation. Cameron Winklevoss noted that the investigation alone cost Gemini “tens of millions of dollars in legal bills” and he criticised the SEC for causing “unquantifiable losses” to those companies along with stifling innovation. He wrote:
“While this marks another milestone to the end of the war on crypto, which already includes the SEC’s withdrawal of the Coinbase lawsuit and the closing of investigations into OpenSea, Robinhood, and UniSwap, it does little to make up for the damage this agency has done to us, our industry, and America It’s wholly unacceptable for an agency like the SEC to bully, harass, and attack a lawful industry and then decide one day to simply say we’re good and walk away.”
Winklevoss added that the damage has already been done by driving away projects and talents from the sector but did welcome the latest move by the SEC. The Gemini co-founder also stated his desire for “thoughtful legislation” to protect the industry and accountability for those involved. He stated:
“Unless there is a cost and price to be paid for this behaviour, it will happen again. Thoughtful legislation will form a shield of protection, but we also need strong deterrence inside the agencies themselves.”
https://x.com/cameron/status/1894876433979154893
It was also announced by the Commission that they are seeking a ‘pause’ in the case against Tron founder Justin Sun. The SEC has jointly moved to stay the case along with the crypto entrepreneur. It comes about as a “potential resolution” between the parties is likely. The civil fraud case was filed back in March 2023 and it charged Sun with illegal crypto sales by inflating volumes. The court documents noted that Sun managed to illegally generated $31 million of proceeds by ordering employees to conduct hundreds of thousands of Tronix trades. This in turn mislead customers over the popularity of the token. Sun is one of the biggest investors in Trump’s crypto platform, World Liberty Financial, having so far invested a total of $75 million into the platform.
The SEC also ended an investigation into Robinhood as their investigation regarding whether the retail trading platform failed to register certain digital assets as securities has come to a close. Dan Gallagher, the firm’s chief legal, compliance, and corporate affairs officer, stated:
"We applaud the staff’s decision to close this investigation with no action."
With Donald Trump having made a number of promises to the industry while campaigning for president he seems to be standing by them. The new administration is taking a different approach to that of Biden, and SEC commissioner Hester Peirce has previously noted how she now hopes to provide "greater clarity" for a crypto industry that long argued Washington, D.C., treated it unfairly and inconsistently. Peirce is the new head of a crypto task force formed after the new Trump administration took office.
The millions that US tech companies invested in currying favour with Trump looks to be paying off so far. Crypto, AI and social media companies, many of which made donations to Trump, are all expecting to benefit as lawsuits are being dropped and case files closed. With Elon Musk at the centre of the new administration, whether legitimately or not, it looks like he and his several tech companies are set to benefit from the new regime. The long-term impact this will have on the crypto industry, and the world at large, remains to be seen. For now though it seems like crypto exchanges can relax after years of scrutiny from government departments.
Have a great day.
Peace. CryptoGod-1.
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