{"id":21703,"date":"2025-03-03T19:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-03-03T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forklog.com\/en\/sec-lawsuits-and-investigations-against-crypto-firms-persist\/"},"modified":"2025-03-03T19:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-03-03T17:00:00","slug":"sec-lawsuits-and-investigations-against-crypto-firms-persist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/sec-lawsuits-and-investigations-against-crypto-firms-persist\/","title":{"rendered":"SEC lawsuits and investigations against crypto firms persist"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>At least four lawsuits by the <span data-descr=\"U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission\" class=\"old_tooltip\">SEC<\/span> against crypto companies remain active, and investigations into three firms are still open. That is according to<a href=\"https:\/\/www.coindesk.com\/policy\/2025\/03\/01\/as-the-sec-continues-its-crypto-litigation-retreat-here-s-what-s-still-outstanding\"> CoinDesk<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In the first category are Ripple, Kraken, Cumberland DRW and Pulsechain; in the second \u2014 Unicoin, Crypto.com and Immutable.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/news\/hester-peirce-outlines-priorities-for-secs-crypto-task-force\">Heading<\/a> the SEC\u2019s dedicated \u201ccrypto group\u201d since February, Hester Peirce has begun delivering on one of the <a href=\"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/news\/hester-peirce-outlines-priorities-for-secs-crypto-task-force\">promises<\/a> to review proceedings initiated under former chair <a href=\"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/news\/gary-genslers-departure-a-retrospective-on-the-sec-chairs-tenure\">Gary Gensler<\/a>, but the docket has yet to be cleared.<\/p>\n<p>By March the agency had dropped cases against <a href=\"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/news\/sec-concludes-investigation-with-coinbase\">Coinbase<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/news\/joseph-lubin-announces-preliminary-agreement-with-sec\">ConsenSys<\/a>, and paused proceedings against <a href=\"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/news\/binance-and-sec-seek-court-approval-to-pause-proceedings\">Binance<\/a> and Tron while the parties consider a \u201cpotential resolution\u201d.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><em>\u201cThe SEC\u2019s unprecedented activity illustrates how unorthodox the past four years have been. This is definitely something we have never seen before,\u201d<\/em> commented Coinbase chief legal officer Paul Grewal.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Over the past two weeks, several companies that had previously received a <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Wells_notice\">Wells notice<\/a> were told by the regulator that it was being withdrawn. They include <a href=\"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/news\/sec-drops-investigation-into-robinhoods-crypto-division\">Robinhood Crypto<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/news\/sec-concludes-investigation-into-uniswap-labs\">Uniswap<\/a>, OpenSea and Gemini.<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/telegram.org\/js\/telegram-widget.js?22\" data-telegram-post=\"forklog\/42852\" data-width=\"100%\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Open cases<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The regulator still has questions for Cumberland DRW. The agency has <a href=\"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/news\/bitcoin-tests-60000-amid-weak-macro-data-and-sec-lawsuit-against-cumberland\">accused<\/a> the trading firm of acting as an unregistered securities dealer.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/news\/better-markets-backs-sec-in-ripple-case\">The case against Ripple<\/a> remains open. Previously, the company\u2019s top management and outside experts expressed confidence that the SEC would forgo an appeal. As of now, the Commission has made no public statements.<\/p>\n<p>Rebecca Fike, a partner at Vinson &amp; Elkins, predicted the agency will end all cases that rely on the Howey test to accuse a company of offering unregistered securities.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p><em> \u201cThere is a possibility that some cases in this category are based directly on fraud. [\u2026] The SEC may continue to pursue them with a focus on that aspect,\u201d<\/em> she noted.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>In July 2023 the agency brought charges against Richard Schueler, better known as Richard Heart, Pulsechain, PulseX and Hex. In October 2024 a hearing was held on the defendants\u2019 motion to dismiss. On 28 February 2025 the judge <a href=\"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/news\/court-dismisses-sec-lawsuit-against-hex-founder\">denied<\/a> it, while giving the SEC 20 days to amend.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Ongoing investigations<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Several investigations also remain open and have not yet led to charges.<\/p>\n<p>Crypto.com <a href=\"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/news\/crypto-com-challenges-sec-following-wells-notice\">sued<\/a> the SEC in October 2024 after <a href=\"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/news\/crypto-com-challenges-sec-following-wells-notice\">receiving<\/a> a Wells notice. The exchange withdrew it two months later, shortly after CEO Kris Marszalek met U.S. President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n<p>Last year <a href=\"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/news\/immutable-receives-wells-notice-from-sec\">Immutable<\/a> and Unicoin also received notices.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Outlook<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Fike of Vinson &amp; Elkins believes the SEC is drifting away from the Gensler-era strategy of regulation by enforcement.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>\u201cOversight will proceed via statements and potential future rulemaking. This will create legal certainty in the crypto industry,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>In March the Senate will <a href=\"https:\/\/www.coindesk.com\/policy\/2025\/03\/03\/u-s-senate-expected-to-vote-on-erasing-irs-s-crypto-broker-rule-that-threatens-defi-source\">consider<\/a> overturning Biden-era <a href=\"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/news\/irs-to-impose-taxes-on-defi-platforms\">the rules of the <span data-descr=\"U.S. Internal Revenue Service within the U.S. Department of the Treasury\" class=\"old_tooltip\">IRS<\/span><\/a> as applied to DeFi services, and the <span data-descr=\"Consumer Financial Protection Bureau within the U.S. Department of the Treasury\" class=\"old_tooltip\">CFPB<\/span> rules regarding digital payments.<\/p>\n<p>The former requires decentralised-finance projects to disclose tax information. The latter increases the degree of oversight for big technology firms that offer digital wallets and payment apps.<\/p>\n<p>In February, Trump <a href=\"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/news\/donald-trump-recommends-former-bitfury-lawyer-for-occ-leadership\">nominated<\/a> Jonathan Gould to head the <span data-descr=\"Office of the Comptroller of the Currency within the U.S. Department of the Treasury\" class=\"old_tooltip\">OCC<\/span> at the U.S. Treasury. According to Ron Hammond of the Blockchain Association, if confirmed the agency would simplify the creation of a regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier, the U.S. president officially <a href=\"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/news\/trump-nominates-paul-atkins-as-sec-chair\">put forward<\/a> Paul Atkins for the post of SEC chair, noting his expertise in digital assets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At least four lawsuits by the SEC against crypto companies remain active, and investigations into three firms are still open. That is according to CoinDesk. In the first category are Ripple, Kraken, Cumberland DRW and Pulsechain; in the second \u2014 Unicoin, Crypto.com and Immutable. Heading the SEC\u2019s dedicated \u201ccrypto group\u201d since February, Hester Peirce has [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21702,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"select":"","news_style_id":"","cryptorium_level":"","_short_excerpt_text":"","creation_source":"","_metatest_mainpost_news_update":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[1150,36,128],"class_list":["post-21703","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-news-plus","tag-regulation","tag-sec"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"views":"25","promo_type":"","layout_type":"","short_excerpt":"","is_update":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21703","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21703"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21703\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21702"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/u1f987.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}