One year into President Trump’s return to the White House, the Securities and Exchange Commission has dramatically scaled back its crypto enforcement push — dropping cases, closing long-running probes and reprioritizing what it targets. Headline development: the SEC’s high-profile lawsuit over Gemini’s Earn lending product was dismissed this week after the exchange (now operating as Gemini Space Station) and the regulator filed a joint stipulation following a “100 percent in-kind return” of investors’ crypto assets. The Earn suit, originally filed in early 2023, had accused Gemini and lending partner Genesis Global Capital of offering unregistered securities; Genesis entered bankruptcy in 2023. Separately, the SEC closed another unrelated Gemini probe last year after nearly two years without taking enforcement action. That outcome is part of a broader unwind. Since the change in SEC leadership in 2025 — under Chair Paul Atkins — the agency has paused or dropped a string of legacy cases that originated under the prior administration. To date the SEC has ended actions or closed investigations involving at least 17 major crypto firms, including Coinbase, Binance, Ripple, Kraken, ConsenSys, Cumberland/DRW, Robinhood, Uniswap, OpenSea, Crypto.com, Yuga Labs, Immutable, Helium, PayPal, Aave, Ondo Finance and Gemini. Most of these matters centered on staking products, token listings or wallet infrastructure and were resolved without penalties. Industry and legal observers say the shift represents a move toward a more selective, risk-based enforcement approach rather than the broad crackdown many saw during the Gensler era. Alice Frei, head of security and compliance at Outset, described the SEC’s posture as a “tactical experiment” in restrained enforcement. Leo Fan, CEO of on-chain compute platform Cysic, said the dismissals show the agency is “recalibrating its enforcement playbook,” emphasizing legal certainty and economic competitiveness over headline-grabbing cases. Shady El Damaty, co-founder of Human.tech, suggested the SEC is deprioritizing legacy cases where investor harm has already been addressed and continued litigation offers limited regulatory benefit. At the same time, observers stress the underlying securities framework hasn’t been rewritten — the SEC appears to be exercising greater discretion about when and how it applies those rules to crypto. The regulatory backdrop has also shifted legislatively: proponents say passage of the GENIUS Act has offered clearer guidance on permissible crypto activity in the U.S., helping end “almost half a decade of anxiety” about major court rulings, according to Sri Balan Krishnan of Pundi AI. What this means for the market: firms are getting breathing room and some legal clarity, but enforcement isn’t gone — the SEC now seems focused on cases with clear investor harm or unresolved risks. For companies and investors, the message is mixed: reduced headline risk and more predictability, but continued scrutiny where the agency sees concrete threats to market integrity. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news

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