SEC pulled again from 14 of 23 crypto instances inherited from prior administrations since January 2025
Eight of the 14 instances concerned defendants who later fashioned political or monetary ties to Trump
NYT discovered no proof corporations tried to affect instances by way of donations or enterprise ties
Dec. 15 (Crypto-Information.Internet) – The U.S. Securities and Alternate Fee has eased or dropped greater than 60% of the cryptocurrency enforcement instances it inherited when President Donald Trump returned to workplace in January 2025, a New York Occasions investigation revealed Dec. 14 discovered.
The SEC pulled again from 14 of 23 crypto instances carried over from prior administrations, in comparison with roughly 4% of non-crypto instances dismissed from a pool of 262 Biden-era federal courtroom instances, in response to the New York Occasions investigation. The company filed zero new crypto enforcement actions from January by way of Sept. 30, 2025.
The SEC denied that political favoritism influenced its selections. The company mentioned it was pivoting for “authorized and coverage causes,” together with issues about its authority to manage the business, in response to the investigation.
Trump Ties and Regulatory Debate
Of the 14 instances the SEC pulled again from, eight concerned defendants who later fashioned political or monetary ties to Trump or his household, the NYT discovered.
The ties included monetary relationships with Trump household crypto companies or contributions to his political causes, in response to the SEC’s coverage shift that started shortly after Trump’s inauguration.
The NYT said it “didn’t discover proof that the corporations had tried to affect the instances towards them by way of donations or enterprise ties to Mr. Trump, a few of which have been made after the S.E.C. pivoted of their instances.” The findings have prompted debate amongst regulators concerning the company’s enforcement priorities.
Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw, a Democratic appointee, dissented from a number of dismissals. “Right now’s motion undermines the credibility of our Division of Enforcement. It creates the specter that the company will deploy its enforcement sources along with election cycles or in favor of these with means,” Crenshaw mentioned in a Feb. 27 assertion on the Coinbase case dismissal.
Commissioner Hester Peirce, who leads the SEC’s crypto activity drive established Jan. 21, 2025, supported the coverage change. “The Fee took a sweeping and difficult-to-decipher method in its software of Howey to the crypto business. The business suffered as a result of effort that will have gone into constructing fascinating and modern services as an alternative went into strategizing with expensive attorneys,” Peirce mentioned.
Business Response and Case Outcomes
The SEC dismissed instances towards Coinbase and Kraken on Feb. 27 and March 27, 2025, respectively, and proposed decreasing Ripple Labs’ penalty from $125 million to $50 million within the ongoing SEC Ripple settlement talks. The company additionally dropped its case towards Binance completely.
Business figures disputed the NYT’s framing. Paul Grewal, Coinbase’s chief authorized officer who has testified earlier than Congress on crypto enforcement, famous on X that NYT reporters acknowledged they “didn’t discover proof that the corporations had tried to affect the instances.” Grewal added this “exhibits the headline and the general narrative to be much more twisted.”
Alex Thorn, head of analysis at Galaxy Digital, mentioned on X that the NYT story “depends on the false premise that the prior admin’s assault on crypto is completely regular. It wasn’t.”
White Home Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt mentioned the administration was “fulfilling the president’s promise to make the US the crypto capital of the world by driving innovation and financial alternative for all Individuals,” the NYT reported. The SEC has not introduced any timeline for brand new crypto enforcement pointers.
Reporting and modifying by Zoran Spirkovski
Sources
New York Occasions Investigation – Core statistics (14/23 instances, 60%+ price, 4% non-crypto comparability, 8 Trump-linked defendants), “no proof” caveat, SEC denial assertion, White Home response URL: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/14/us/politics/sec-crypto-firms-trump-investigation.html
SEC.gov Commissioner Crenshaw Assertion – Dissent quote on enforcement credibility, “election cycles” concern URL: https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/speeches-statements/crenshaw-remarks-crypto-2-0-regulatory-whiplash-022725
SEC.gov Commissioner Peirce Assertion – Help for coverage change, business burden quote URL: https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/speeches-statements/peirce-statement-coinbase-022725
Paul Grewal on X – Business response to NYT framing, “no proof” acknowledgment URL: https://x.com/iampaulgrewal/standing/2000448092361932945
Alex Thorn on X – Criticism of NYT premise concerning prior administration’s crypto coverage URL: https://x.com/intangiblecoins/standing/2000334663479447557
