SEC agrees to drop case against crypto exchange Kraken, firm says

The staff of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission agreed in principle to drop its lawsuit against the crypto exchange Kraken.

The agreement to dismiss the lawsuit comes without admission of wrongdoing, penalties paid or alterations to Kraken's business model, the company wrote in a Monday release.

"The SEC’s decision to dismiss its lawsuit against us (and many others) is more than just a legal victory — it’s a turning point for the future of crypto in the U.S," the firm said in a statement. "It ends a wasteful, politically motivated campaign, lifts uncertainty that stifled innovation and investment, and clears the path toward a stable, forward-thinking regulatory regime."

The SEC initially sued Kraken over securities law violations. The agency brought a suit against the exchange in November 2023 for operating as an unregistered online trading platform and allegedly mishandling customer funds. Kraken has since moved to dismiss the SEC's lawsuit, claiming the agency overreached its jurisdiction. However, a judge denied Kraken's motion to dismiss the case in August the following year.

 The SEC had also agreed to drop its litigation against crypto exchange Coinbase on Feb. 21, with the case officially dismissed a week later. The SEC initially sued Coinbase in 2023 for securities law violations regarding its broker-dealing, exchange services and clearing agency. The agency also recently withdrew cases against Gemini, MetaMask, OpenSea, Robinhood and UniSwap.