- The SEC, under new leadership, has decided not to pursue legal action against Gemini and Consensys, marking a shift in crypto regulation.
- Gemini’s investigation, which lasted 700 days, has been closed nearly a year after issuing the exchange a Wells Notice.
- Consensys CEO Joseph Lubin also announced that the securities enforcement case concerning MetaMask has been dismissed.
- Winklevoss proposed radical changes to prevent SEC overreach, including reimbursement for legal costs and public naming of regulators involved in the crypto crackdown.
The cryptocurrency market might be struggling of late, but the regulatory wins are showing no signs of slowing down.
Under the Biden administration, financial agency the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) launched legal action against several top blockchain companies in the United States.
However, with new President Donald Trump firmly making his presence felt, the new-look SEC under acting Chair Mark Uyeda has shown signs of relaxing how they police crypto.
On top of likely approving a slate of new spot altcoin ETFs (such as Litecoin and Dogecoin), the SEC has halted pre-existing legal action against industry players like Uniswap and Coinbase.
And now, it’s been announced that the SEC will not be pursuing legal action against Gemini and Consensys in another win for the sector.
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Gemini and Consensys Look to Focus on Web3 Services After Legal and Financial Stresses
Gemini, the crypto trading platform developed by the Winklevoss twins, was issued a Wells Notice nearly a year ago.
The overall investigation, which lasted 700 days, has drawn to a close, with Cameron Winklevoss stating ‘the SEC informed our litigation counsel…that it has closed its investigation into Gemini’.
Despite the positive news for both Gemini and others facing SEC-driven scrutiny, Winklevoss was scathing in his criticism of the US financial regulator’s actions over the past few years.
This marks a milestone to end the war on crypto…it does little to make up for the damage this agency has done to us, our industry, and America…The SEC’s behaviour in aggregate towards other crypto companies and projects cost orders of magnitude more and caused unquantifiable loss in economic growth for America.
Cameron Winklevoss, co-founder of GeminiMeanwhile, CEO of ConsenSys, Joseph Lubin, made a similar announcement overnight, writing:
Consensys and the SEC have agreed in principle that the securities enforcement case concerning MetaMask should be dismissed.
Joseph Lubin, CEO of ConsenSysLubin celebrated the news and shared his excitement that the company could put 100% of its resources into building on Ethereum.
Winklevoss Blasts SEC, Suggests Radical Changes to Prevent Agency Overreach
While Lubin was fairly moderate, airing his grievances was far from the end of it for Winklevoss’s social media post. The Gemini co-founder launched a series of ideas to prevent a government agency like the SEC from overreaching and ‘bully[ing]’ a lawful industry.
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His suggestions include a 3x reimbursement for any legal costs incurred by litigation and the dishonorable discharge and public shaming of the specific regulators involved in the attack on the crypto industry.
While these may seem a little extreme, they reflect the frustration and anger incurred by the outgoing SEC’s regulation by enforcement policy.
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