This week, the digital currency industry has undoubtedly won four major victories, because the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) abandoned the prosecution and surveys on the main players, including Coinbase (Nasdaq: Coinbase), Robinhood Crypto (Nasdaq: Hood), Uniswap and the non -fascinated market (NFT) Opensea.
Coinbase: In June 2023, the SEC continued Coinbase, alleging that it operated as an unregistered broker, exchange and compensation agency since 2019. The Commission said that the company had violated the federal securities laws by facilitating the trade of non -registered securities. After more than a year of legal battles, the SEC rejected the case on February 21, 2025.
Robinhood Crypto: In May 2024, Robinhood received a notice from Wells – an official SEC warning that he envisaged action against the company’s crypto operations. However, the SEC suddenly closed its investigation on February 24, 2025.
UNISWAP LABORATORIES: UNISWAP Labs received an opinion from Wells in April 2024, with allegations according to which it operated as a broker and exchange of non -registered securities. But on February 25, 2025, the SEC abandoned its investigation into Uniswap.
OpenSsea: Likewise, Opensea, one of the largest NFT markets, was informed in August 2024 that the SEC was investigating the question of whether some NFT on its platform should be classified as titles, but the SEC interrupted the investigation on February 21, 2025.
Each of these companies has spent years and millions of dollars in legal costs fighting the dry. Now, apparently overnight, the regulatory threats to which they have been faced. So what has changed?
There has been a major change in the approach of dry to the regulation of cryptography, and although it may seem a victory for digital asset companies, the reality is much more complex.
The Crypto Policy Change of SEC
Under the former president of the SEC, Gary Gensler, the agency took an aggressive position against the crypto. Gensler has repeatedly said that existing securities laws already covered most cryptographic assets and that many industry players do not comply. His approach highlighted the application of advice, leading to a wave of prosecution and surveys that put large cryptographic companies in hot water.
One of these companies was Coinbase, which tried to postpone and asked the SEC for lighter regulatory directives. However, the agency refused to provide them, which led a federal court to criticize the actions of the SEC, calling for its “arbitrary and capricious” refusal. Subsequently, the court ordered the dry to provide a more detailed explanation for its refusal to offer advice – an order that the agency was never completed because before it had the chance to do so, there was a change in the leadership of the dry.
The departure of peopleler inaugurated a new era of crypto policy, marked by a practical approach which is very different from the tactics responsible for the application of the dry of the past.
Trump Pro-Crypto Administration
President Donald Trump campaigned on a Pro-Crypto platform and as soon as he won the elections, he began to do Pro-Crypto America, he spoke of a reality. He created a new role as “Czar Crypto” in the White House and appointed David Sacks venture capital in a position to develop a clear regulatory framework for the industry, which the previous administration had not done.
During his third day in power, Trump signed the “”Strengthening the decree of the financial technology of American leadership ”, which has mandated the training of a crypto working group. The working group aims to clarify how federal securities laws apply to cryptographic assets and recommend policies that encourage innovation while protecting investors.
At its nominal value, this change seems to be exactly what industry has requested: less interference from the government and clearer directives. However, in practice, the effects of these changes were very different from those they had in theory.
When regulatory relief rumors have surfaced for the first time, the cryptography market responded with enthusiasm. Prices have climbed in anticipation of an environment more suited to businesses. However, once these changes have been officially implemented, reality did not quite correspond to expectations and that market prices have dropped quickly.
Instead of stimulating a new commercial activity, the change in regulation has led to increased market speculation and an increase in questionable projects – initiative consumers have invested and losing money unless they can sell hours after the start of the project. With fewer legal roadblocks, an influx of new tokens, NFTS and decentralized finance projects (DEFI) has emerged – many of which lack real public services and resemble high challenges.
The crypto becomes the Far West again?
One of the biggest concerns emerging from the new practical approach to the dry is the increase in fraudulent activity. While cryptographic companies like Coinbase and Robinhood are now free to operate without regulatory interference, the lack of surveillance has also created reproductive land for scams and pump and dump diets.
Hester Peirce, the leader of the dry crypto working group, recently said that the SEC had no competence on most cryptographic assets, including many pieces, tokens and NFT. This raises an important question: if the dry is not the regulator, then who is?
Currently, no clear response exists, which has made the industry a little free for everyone.
For example, in the days preceding the inauguration of Trump, he and his wife, Melania, launched their same. The tokens were marketed as fun and community -based projects that were not supposed to be investments. However, a large number of people have seen the tokens as an opportunity for negotiations, invested and experienced an 80% drop in each token from their peaks of all time. Many of their supporters have lost money, while the initiates took advantage – but no regulatory organization intervened to investigate.
Where is the crypto here?
The reversal of the dry on the application of cryptography opened the door to the growth of the industry. However, rather than incubating the expansion of legitimate companies, it has mainly created an environment where the speculation and the rich fast diagrams thrive.
So what is the solution? I believe that a return to the repression of the era peopleler is not the answer. This approach stifled innovation, has driven businesses in the United States and has led many others to suspend their commercial operations. However, free for everyone on the market is not lasting either.
At this stage, a significant change will not come from regulators alone. Their role is to create policies that restrict or allow industry growth. It is up to digital asset companies themselves to demonstrate real value beyond speculative trading. If the industry wants long -term legitimacy, it must go beyond the casino type atmosphere and focus on the services and construction tools that offer tangible advantages and create – resembling extraction and redistribution – the value of users.
Watch: Reggie Middleton on Defi, Booms / Busts & Crypto Regulation
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