Author and source: 0x9999in1, MetaEra

In the first quarter of 2025, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) quietly changed its regulatory style in the crypto field. With the end of the Gary Gensler era, the SEC, led by Acting Chairman Mark Uyeda, began to try "dialogic governance", established a crypto task force, terminated multiple crypto case investigations, and launched a series of industry roundtables. Does this series of actions mean that the SEC is shifting from "adversarial regulation" to a more moderate collaborative model? Before the new chairman officially takes office, can the SEC's adjustments really push the crypto industry towards a new stage of compliance and innovation?

SEC’s key actions in the past three months: from “enforcement-led” to “dialogic governance”

Since Acting Chairman Mark Uyeda took office in January 2025, the SEC has made significant adjustments to its regulatory strategy in the crypto space, and has set up a crypto task force. The crypto task force, led by "Crypto Mom" Hester Peirce, symbolizes a major shift in regulatory policy and is expected to prioritize defining which crypto assets are "securities" and explore channels for legally issuing tokens. This move may bring a clearer regulatory framework to the market and attract more traditional financial institutions to enter the crypto space.

Recently, the SEC also announced that it will hold four new rounds of roundtables from April to June 2025, covering topics such as crypto trading, custody, asset tokenization and DeFi. The time and themes of the four public roundtables are: "Tailored Regulation for Crypto Trading" on April 11, "Key Issues for Custodians" on April 25, "Asset Chain and Traditional Financial Integration" on May 12, and "DeFi and the American Spirit" on June 6.

It is worth mentioning that these meetings are open to the public. SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce called it a "spring sprint for clarity in crypto regulation," indicating that the SEC is trying to develop clearer rules through industry dialogue. He also publicly stated on March 25 that the crypto industry needs "clear and reasonable boundaries of regulatory power," suggesting that compliance may be promoted in the future through rule refinement rather than litigation.

This series of changes is not only reflected in the establishment of groups and roundtable meetings, but there is a set of data that will be more intuitive. According to official SEC documents, the term "blockchain" in the documents reached a record high in February 2025 (more than 5,000 records in the EDGAR database), which also reflects its significant increase in attention to the encryption industry.

SEC terminates multiple crypto case investigations, sending a easing signal

As of March 2025, there have indeed been some adjustments in the enforcement dynamics of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the field of cryptocurrency, with some cases ending in settlement, withdrawal of charges, or termination of investigations, showing a certain degree of regulatory easing.

In January 2025, the SEC concluded its investigation into the Hinman document-related case and did not make a new ruling on whether Ethereum was a security;

In 2023, Kraken paid $30 million to settle for providing unregistered “staking as a service”, but the SEC reserved the right to further investigate. In February 2025, the SEC officially terminated the investigation without imposing additional penalties;

The SEC previously accused several NFT issuers (such as Impact Theory and Stoner Cats) of violating securities laws, believing that their NFTs were investment contracts. In December 2024, the SEC quietly withdrew some of the lawsuits, retaining only enforcement against projects that clearly promised returns (such as Ponzi scheme-type NFTs).

The SEC once accused a DeFi protocol (anonymous) of circumventing securities laws through governance tokens. A settlement was reached in March 2025, with the parties agreeing to register some functions and pay a small fine, and the SEC terminated the investigation;

The SEC attempted to accuse Tornado Cash developers of violating securities laws because its privacy tools were used for money laundering. In January 2025, the SEC abandoned the lawsuit and turned to collaborative supervision with the Treasury Department (OFAC).

In March 2025, the US SEC terminated its investigation into Immutable and related parties and found no violations. Robbie Ferguson, president of Immutable, said that this move brought regulatory clarity to the Web3 gaming industry and is expected to drive more institutional investment;

In March 2025, Ripple reached a preliminary settlement agreement with the SEC, in which the SEC agreed to return $75 million of the $125 million fine imposed by the court last year, retaining only $50 million to close the case. In exchange, Ripple will withdraw its cross-appeal.

Future Outlook: Policy Direction after the New Chairman Takes Office

According to the latest news, the SEC is still led by Acting Chairman Mark Uyeda. During his tenure, he has adjusted some crypto policies, such as suspending plans to require crypto companies to register as trading systems and promoting the establishment of a cryptocurrency task force, which is considered by the outside world to pave the way for a transition period.

Paul Atkins is Trump's candidate for SEC chairman, and his appointment is seen as an important signal to promote friendly regulation of the cryptocurrency industry. He has extensive experience in financial regulation, has worked at the SEC and supports innovation and the development of decentralized assets. However, Paul Atkins is currently facing questions about conflicts of interest. His investments in the crypto field (such as Securitize and Pontoro) and family assets (total value of over $327 million) have raised concerns about his regulatory fairness, but he promised that if he is appointed, he will resign from his current position and sell related shares.

The nomination of the new SEC Chairman Paul Atkins is still in the Senate hearing stage. The Senate hearing is scheduled to be held on March 27, 2025, when Paul Atkins will need to respond to questions from Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren and others about his connection with the crypto industry.

If Paul Atkins can officially take charge, he may promote legislative processes such as the Digital Asset Market Structure Act, reduce regulatory overlap, and clarify the criteria for distinguishing between securities and non-security tokens.

Conclusion

The adjustments made by the SEC in the past three months mark its attempt to transform from "adversarial regulation" to "dialogic governance". If the SEC can continue to promote a transparent and reasonable regulatory framework and give priority to formulating specific rules for stablecoins, staking services, and DeFi protocols, the United States may become a top priority for the global crypto innovation center; on the contrary, if the policy is repeated, crypto projects may still choose to move to regions with more friendly regulation. In any case, 2025 will be a key turning point in the relationship between the SEC and the crypto industry.