SEC Drops Aggressive Crypto Enforcement Campaigns, Gemini Confirms to be Latest

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Sujha Sundararajan

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Sujha Sundararajan

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SEC drops crypto enforcements

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is dropping its aggressive crypto enforcement actions brought by the former head Gensler.

On Wednesday, crypto exchange Gemini co-founder Cameron Winklevoss confirmed that the regulator has ended the investigation into the firm without any charges.

The SEC has already dismissed the probe against Robinhood Crypto on February 21, together with dropping its lawsuit against Coinbase. The regulator also backed off its investigation into Uniswap Tuesday, and said it has no plans to pursue enforcement action.

According to Winklevoss’ statement, the SEC’s withdrawal against the case comes 699 days after the start of their investigation.

“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,” he wrote.

SEC’s Enforcements ‘Cost Orders of Magnitude’ More: Winklevoss

Besides, Cameron Winklevoss stressed that the investigation alone cost Gemini “tens of millions of dollars in legal bills.”

He slammed the SEC for causing “unquantifiable losses” to those companies and stifling innovation. These actions drove talent away from the sector, he emphasized.

“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.”

Welcoming the move by the agency to resolve the enforcement investigations, Winklevoss added that the damage has already been done by driving away projects and talents from the sector.

Further, the Gemini co-founder called for “thoughtful legislation” to protect the industry and accountability for those involved.

“Unless there is a cost and price to be paid for this behavior, it will happen again,” he wrote. “Thoughtful legislation will form a shield of protection, but we also need strong deterrence inside the agencies themselves.”

Regulator Puts Stay on Justin Sun’s Crypto Civil Fraud Case

The Commission also announced on Wednesday that it is seeking a ‘pause’ in the case against Tron founder Justin Sun.

Per a Feb. 26 filing, the SEC has jointly moved to stay the case along with the crypto entrepreneur. The “potential resolution” among both parties would drop lawsuits against Justin Sun and his companies Tron Foundation, BitTorrent Foundation, and Rainberry.

The civil fraud case, which was initially filed in March 2023, had charged Sun over illegal crypto sales by inflating volumes. Per court documents, Sun illegally generated $31 million of proceeds by ordering employees to conduct hundreds of thousands of Tronix trades, misleading customers.

Sun is one of the biggest investors in Trump’s crypto platform, World Liberty Financial. He has invested a total of $75 million into the platform through two separate purchases.

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