Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the U.S., announced Friday that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is set to dismiss its lawsuit against the company. The case, which was initiated in June 2023 under the Biden administration, accused Coinbase of operating as an unregistered broker, exchange, and clearing agency.
The decision to drop the lawsuit aligns with the new Trump administration’s pro-crypto stance. President Trump, who previously criticized digital currencies, has since shifted his position, signing an executive order on his third day in office aimed at reducing crypto regulations. Paul Atkins, Trump’s nominee for SEC Chair, is expected to take a more lenient approach to crypto oversight compared to his predecessor, Gary Gensler.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong welcomed the SEC’s decision, stating that the lawsuit posed a significant threat to the crypto industry in the U.S. “Caving to their demands could have killed the crypto industry in America,” Armstrong wrote on X. He argued that regulators should enforce existing laws rather than create new ones arbitrarily. The SEC has not commented on the case’s dismissal.
Bybit Suffers One of the Largest Crypto Hacks in History
On the same day, Bybit, a major cryptocurrency exchange, reported that an attacker had gained access to one of its Ethereum cold wallets, transferring $1.4 billion to an unknown address. Bybit CEO Ben Zhou assured users that all other wallets remain secure and that withdrawals continue as normal.
Despite the loss, Zhou emphasized that Bybit remains solvent and that all client assets are fully backed. Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis estimates that an average of $2.75 billion was stolen from crypto platforms between 2021 and 2024.
