Coinbase case officially dropped by SEC

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission officially requested to dismiss its case against Coinbase with prejudice, meaning it will not be refiled, according to filings made Thursday with the Southern District of New York.

Last week, Coinbase said the agency planned to dismiss its case against one of the largest crypto companies in the U.S. "SEC staff has agreed in principle to dismiss its unlawful enforcement case against Coinbase, subject to Commissioner approval — righting a major wrong," Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal said at the time.

The case stretches back to June 2023, when the SEC sued Coinbase, two years after the top U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange went public. The agency alleged that Coinbase had violated U.S. securities laws by merging three functions typically kept separate: brokers, exchanges and clearing agencies.

"Coinbase has never registered with the SEC as a broker, national securities exchange, or clearing agency, thus evading the disclosure regime that Congress has established for our securities markets," the regulator noted at the time.

Earlier Thursday, in a move similar to Coinbase's last week, Consensys's founder Joseph Lubin said that the SEC had agreed 'in principle' to end its case against MetaMask. Consensys is the developer of the popular crypto wallet MetaMask.

"For the last several years, the Commission’s views on crypto have been largely expressed through enforcement actions without engaging the general public," Acting Chairman Mark T. Uyeda said in a statement. "It’s time for the Commission to rectify its approach and develop crypto policy in a more transparent manner. The Crypto Task Force is designed to do just that."

During the early part of his presidency, U.S. President Donald Trump has been reshaping the government to be increasingly pro crypto.