SEC dismisses seven crypto enforcement cases as policy shifts to rulemaking

What changed

Between February and May 2025, the SEC dismissed with prejudice seven prior-administration crypto enforcement actions—Coinbase, Cumberland DRW, Consensys, Kraken/Payward, Dragonchain, Balina, and Binance—while stating that the dismissals supported a shift from enforcement-led policymaking toward the Crypto Task Force and did not decide the merits or establish a rule for other cases.

Who it affects

• Crypto trading platforms
• dealers
• wallet and staking providers
• token issuers
• investment advisers
• custodians
• clients

What is still open

• The substantive treatment of particular tokens, transactions, staking services, and intermediary activities under later SEC rules, interpretations, and cases

What it means for an advisor

• Update enforcement-risk narratives and case trackers, but do not read the discretionary dismissals as holdings that the underlying activities fall outside the securities laws.