The U.S. regulator SEC eased its stance on crypto-related institutions under the new administration, agreeing to dismiss the long-standing legal battle against Coinbase and drop the investigation of the Opensea NFT market.
In a significant shift in regulatory stance, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has decided to dismiss its lawsuit against Coinbase and has concluded its investigation into the NFT marketplace OpenSea without pursuing any enforcement action.
According to a Feb.21 post on X by Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, the crypto exchange has reached an agreement with SEC staff to dismiss the lawsuit against the company. It must be noted, though, that the agreement is still subject to official approval. At the same time, Armstrong announced that no fines or changes to Coinbase’s business would be applied, as the SEC under the rule of its former Chair Gary Gensler and his political allies wrongly classified crypto assets as securities and exceeded its legal powers.
The SEC filed a lawsuit against Coinbase in 2023, alleging that the cryptocurrency exchange operated as an unregistered securities broker despite allowing the exchange to go public in 2021. At that time, Armstrong explained that the SEC issued a recommendation before starting legal action against Coinbase to delist all cryptocurrencies on its platform except for Bitcoin.
The regulator’s decision to drop the charges is viewed by the wider crypto community as a major victory not only for Coinbase but also for the whole industry. It signals a potential shift towards more lenient regulation under the current administration. At least, the Coinbase CEO looks forward to working with the SEC under new leadership and urges lawmakers to create clear crypto laws.
In a separate short announcement, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of the NFT platform OpenSea, Devin Finzer shared the news that the SEC is also dismissing its investigation into the virtual asset company. The investigation, which began in August 2024, scrutinized whether certain NFTs should be classified as securities. At that time, the NFT exchange received a Wells notice from the regulator, suggesting the first potential enforcement action against non-fungible token infrastructure.
OpenSea’s CEO was stunned by the SEC’s actions. He warned that targeting NFTs could severely hinder innovation, affecting hundreds of thousands of online artists and creators. Since many of them lack the resources to fight back against regulatory challenges, Finzer emphasized that it would be a major loss if artists stopped creating digital art due to fear of unclear regulations.
Industry stakeholders view the dismissal of the Coinbase lawsuit and the closure of the OpenSea investigation as positive signals for the future of digital assets in the United States. The changes in the SEC administration and overall support for cryptocurrency development by the new U.S. President Donald Trump is seen as a significant win for the NFT and Web3 communities.
