In March 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ended investigations into Web3 gaming giants Immutable and Crypto.com. Both companies had received SEC 'Wells' notices — indicating potential lawsuits — but now, the alarm has been lifted, concluding with 'no charges.'
Immutable states that this is a 'progress in regulatory clarity,' and the 'progress' is already changing the fate of previously targeted crypto companies by the SEC. Previously, the SEC reached a settlement with Ripple to refund $75 million in penalties, putting an end to a three-year legal entanglement; after the SEC withdrew its lawsuit against Coinbase, the stock price of this publicly traded exchange skyrocketed, with the number of compliant tokens launched tripling within two weeks.
This series of actions sharply contrasts with former SEC chair Gary Gensler's style of 'replacing regulation with enforcement.' Several events that seemed isolated actually unveil the beginning of a shift in SEC regulatory strategy — from a confrontational logic of 'enforcement equals regulation' to a collaborative framework guided by 'rules,' with a series of meetings concerning regulatory rules already underway.
What drives this transformation is the restructuring of the power landscape in Washington. The re-election of the Trump administration pushes cryptocurrency policy to a historical turning point: Bitcoin is incorporated into the national strategic reserves, national banks are authorized to custody crypto assets, the (GENIUS stablecoin bill) tightens compliance in the industry; pro-crypto Paul Atkins is nominated by Trump as the new SEC chairman.
Policy easing has made the keen crypto market sense opportunities, prompting traditional financial institutions like Franklin Templeton and VanEck to apply for spot ETFs for crypto assets like SOL, with institutional waves rapidly reshaping the structure of the crypto market.
The SEC has 'eased' its stance on several crypto companies.
As the first quarter of 2025 has just ended, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has quietly shifted its regulatory style in the crypto space — from strict enforcement to prudent balance, and this transformation is gradually becoming clear through a series of landmark events.
On March 25, the U.S. SEC officially ended a 17-month investigation into the Australian Web3 gaming giant Immutable, confirming that its IMX token issuance and sales in 2021 did not violate securities laws. This investigation, which began with the 'Wells notice' in November 2024 (an SEC enforcement action warning), concluded with 'no charges.'
Ferguson's statement on X.
Robbie Ferguson, president of Immutable, stated, "This move brings regulatory clarity to the Web3 gaming industry and is expected to drive more institutional investment."
Those benefiting from the 'deregulation' are not limited to Immutable.
On March 26, the SEC agreed to refund $75 million of the $125 million fine against Ripple, retaining only $50 million to close the case. This prolonged legal tug-of-war ended with a compromise, preserving regulatory authority while sending a de-escalation signal.
In fact, since the beginning of the year, the SEC has been intensively terminating multiple controversial investigations, targeting a long list of crypto companies including Robinhood, OpenSea, and Yuga Labs, resulting in investigations being withdrawn or suspended.
In February, the SEC rescinded additional penalties against Kraken's 'staking as a service' business (after the exchange paid $30 million in settlement in 2023, the SEC had retained the right to pursue accountability); in March, it reached a settlement with an anonymous DeFi protocol, only requiring it to register some functions and pay a small fine; even in the field of privacy tools, the SEC dropped securities law charges against Tornado Cash developers and instead collaborated with the Treasury to formulate a technology-neutral regulatory scheme.
During the same period, the SEC withdrew its lawsuit against Coinbase, causing its stock price to soar 4% in early trading. The market reacted sensitively; following the withdrawal of the Coinbase lawsuit, the issuance of compliant tokens surged in the following two weeks. According to data from analysis firm Kaiko, Coinbase added 10 new tokens in February, compared to an average of 2.3 new tokens per month in 2023 and 3.4 new tokens per month in 2024.
The deep transformation of regulatory logic is more reflected in the redefinition of emerging fields. In December 2024, the SEC withdrew lawsuits against NFT projects like Impact Theory and Stoner Cats, retaining accountability only for obviously Ponzi-like projects promising returns. In January 2025, the SEC ended its investigation into former executive Hinman's 'Ethereum is not a security' speech, avoiding a new ruling on the nature of ETH and preserving flexibility for token classification.
Behind a series of actions is the SEC's strategy transformation from 'enforcement equals regulation' to 'rule guidance.'
On January 21 of this year, the SEC established a special working group on cryptocurrencies, led by the committee's acting chair Mark T. Uyeda, aiming to gather industry and expert suggestions to help the SEC delineate clear regulatory paths, provide feasible registration channels, develop reasonable disclosure frameworks, and wisely deploy enforcement resources.
In March this year, the SEC held a roundtable discussion on the regulation of crypto assets.
On March 21, this working group discussed the key areas of crypto regulation under the topic of 'defining security.' The roundtable was chaired by Troy Paredes, founder of consulting firm Paredes Strategies LLC, with invited experts primarily from leaders and scholars in law, finance, and venture capital companies involved in the blockchain and crypto asset industry, many of whom have served in the SEC.
Hester M. Peirce, head of the SEC's cryptocurrency working group, stated, 'The roundtable meetings of the cryptocurrency working group provide us with an opportunity to hear from experts about regulatory issues and what actions the Commission can take to address these issues.'
Multiple spot ETF applications for crypto assets are on the way.
The turning point lies within the political chess game.
With Donald Trump being re-elected as president of the United States, 'Bitcoin' has once again entered the public eye as a buzzword, and the Trump 2.0 era vows to establish a more certain regulatory policy for cryptocurrencies.
This 'returning president' has changed his previously skeptical attitude towards cryptocurrencies, signing an executive order in early 2025 to 'establish Bitcoin strategic reserves,' claiming to convert seized assets into national digital asset inventories.
At the same time, the U.S. Congress is promoting the (GENIUS stablecoin bill), which requires stablecoins to be 100% backed by reserve assets and provides a compliance framework for in-game payment tokens, abolishing the SAB 121 accounting standards that hinder traditional financial institutions from custodying crypto assets, allowing national banks to participate in node verification and asset custody.
The personnel layout of the Trump administration is further strengthening the shift in crypto policy.
In January of this year, Trump nominated Paul Atkins as the new SEC chairman. Atkins has long advocated for guiding industry development through clear regulatory rules rather than relying on litigation. During his tenure as an SEC commissioner, he repeatedly criticized the SEC's 'enforcement equals regulation' strategy towards the crypto industry, arguing that this approach creates uncertainty and hinders innovation.
As the acting chair, Mark T. Uyeda's push for regulatory easing aligns with Atkins' pro-crypto stance. For example, Uyeda terminated lawsuits against Kraken and Coinbase from former chair Gary Gensler's era. During Atkins' nomination confirmation process, acting chair Mark Uyeda has already promoted several policy adjustments, including the establishment of a cryptocurrency working group led by 'Crypto Mom' Hester Peirce, shifting the focus from 'catching violators' to 'setting rules.'
From the president to the SEC chair, personnel have changed, and the U.S. administrative attitude towards the crypto industry has also changed, with 'regulatory easing' and 'accelerated development' occurring simultaneously.
Following the Bitcoin (BTC) spot ETF and Ethereum (ETH) spot ETF, various crypto assets like Solana (SOL) and Avalanche (AVAX) have also entered the ETF application sequence; Ripple's CEO has indicated that an XRP ETF might be realized in 2025. Traditional financial institutions are taking action, with companies like Franklin Templeton and VanEck rushing in.
On March 12, 2025, Franklin Templeton submitted an application for a spot SOL ETF, becoming one of the first traditional asset management giants to enter the Solana ETF space. In addition to SOL, the company has also applied for a Polkadot (DOT) ETF. On March 25, the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) submitted a 19b-4 application to the SEC for a spot SOL ETF on behalf of Fidelity, planning to list it on the BZX exchange.
Grayscale plans to convert its Solana trust fund into a spot ETF, which, if approved, will list on the NYSE under the code GSOL. The application is currently under review by the SEC. Additionally, several companies, including VanEck, 21Shares, Bitwise, and Canary Capital, have submitted applications, with the market expecting a probability of over 70% for the approval of the SOL ETF in 2025.
Avalanche (AVAX) has also entered the ETF application process. In March 2025, VanEck submitted an S-1 application for a spot Avalanche ETF. The SEC has not publicly disclosed its review opinions, but the market speculates that its approval pace may refer to the SOL ETF, with a key review period expected in the second half of 2025.
The SEC, which has investigative, punitive, and civil litigation powers in the field of securities regulation, is beginning to show a friendly face towards crypto assets, resolving the legacy issues of the previous administration through settlements, dismissals, or terminations and suspensions of investigations, and plans to hold meetings this year specifically to discuss the regulation of the crypto asset market.
The SEC will hold four roundtable meetings in the first half of the year to discuss the regulation of crypto assets.
According to official SEC news, four roundtable meetings will be held in April, May, and June this year to discuss the regulation of crypto assets. Topics will cover specialized regulation, cryptocurrency custody, on-chain transfer of tokenized assets, and DeFi. Each roundtable will be open to the public at the SEC headquarters and live-streamed on SEC.gov.
With the combination of U.S. policy easing and the intensive entry of traditional financial institutions, crypto assets have moved from 'marginal experiments' to a historical turning point of 'mainstream introduction,' heralding the dawn of a dynamic balance era of 'regulation and innovation.'
(Statement: Readers should strictly comply with the laws and regulations of their location; this article does not constitute any investment advice.)