The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has decided to pause its lawsuit against Binance for 60 days.
Binance and the SEC jointly requested a federal judge to stay the lawsuit. Both parties cited the “potential impact of a newly launched task force.”
According to a 11 February 2025 Reuters report, the move to stay for 60 days, which requires the judge’s approval, marks the first clear effort to retreat from the SEC’s previous crypto enforcement under Democratic leadership.
US President Donald Trump’s SEC has a different approach to crypto regulation obviously. Could this set a precedent for similar actions involving other major players like Ripple, Coinbase, and Kraken?
🚨NEW: Here’s the first requested pause on #crypto litigation in the courts since @MarkUyedaUS took over as acting chair. @binance and the @SECGov have just filed a joint motion to stay the agency’s case against the exchange for 60 days, citing the new SEC crypto task force as… pic.twitter.com/D2zcolMNC5
— Eleanor Terrett (@EleanorTerrett) February 11, 2025
Explore: Who is Mark Uyeda? New SEC Chief Could Spark a Crypto Golden Age
New Task Force May Facilitate A Resolution
According to the filing by both the parties, “The work of this task force (new SEC task force) may impact and facilitate the potential resolution of this case.”
Following the 60-day period, the parties plan to issue a joint status report to see whether a continuation of the stay is warranted.
SEC had announced a dedicated cryptocurrency task force on 21 January 2025. “Commissioner Hester Peirce will lead the task force,” the announcement said. People in the crypto world are optimistic about Peirce’s appointment as the task force’s leader.
Peirce has been known as “Crypto Mom” for her pro-crypto stance and her dissenting views on enforcement actions (specifically by Former Chain Gary Gensler) that she believed to be excessively harsh or ineffective.
Notably, under the tenure of former Chair Gary Gensler, the agency pursued an aggressive enforcement strategy against cryptocurrency firms. However, the new agency has signaled a potential departure from this hardline approach.
83 enforcement actions were initiated, targeting major players like Coinbase, Binance, and Ripple Labs. These cases often revolved around allegations of securities law violations, such as selling unregistered tokens or failing to register platforms as exchanges.
Explore: Trump’s SEC Will Re-Examine 83 Crypto Cases, Can Dismiss Actions Without Fraud Allegations
SEC Makes A Series Of Pro-Crypto Moves: Bitwise, Ripple Benefit
Recently, SEC granted accelerated approval for Bitwise Bitwise Asset Management’s hybrid Bitcoin-Ethereum exchange-traded fund (ETF). On 30 January 2024, the filing, approving Bitwise’s BTC-ETH ETF said, “the Trust’s allocation of its assets to bitcoin and ether will approximate the relative market capitalization of bitcoin and ether to one another.”
This move by the Trump administration’s SEC marks a pivotal moment in the crypto-based financial products offerings. Meanwhile, Bitwise had been pushing for clearer regulations.
Meanwhile, the heated lawsuit between Ripple Labs and the agency suddenly disappeared from the SEC website.
The case that started in December 2020 has no remaining references on the SEC website. This has led the crypto community to believe that after the Trump Administration and the new SEC leadership came into effect, the controversial war between Ripple and the SEC has officially been dropped.
Ripple’s case has been an important one, especially in shaping regulatory discourse around cryptocurrencies.
Under its new leadership, the agency is also expected to reassess its stance on cryptocurrency-related cases.
“In the first few days of the new administration, the SEC is expected to begin a review of those court cases and potentially freeze some litigation that does not involve allegations of fraud,” a 16 January 2025 Reuters report confirmed.
Explore: SEC Grants Accelerated Approval To Bitwise’s Combined Bitcoin-Ethereum ETF
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