Trump takes power, SEC makes a major turnaround! 60% of Crypto cases dismissed, Ripple successfully escapes.

Since President Trump’s return to the White House, the enforcement actions of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against the cryptocurrency industry have taken a dramatic turn. According to the New York Times, the SEC has dismissed or paused nearly 60% of cryptocurrency-related cases, while enforcement activities in the traditional markets continue. What’s more controversial is that the regulatory agency is “no longer actively pursuing any cases involving companies with known links to Trump.”

Ripple and Binance Major Cases Suddenly Dropped

The most apparent evidence of the weakened enforcement力度 under Trump is the significant retreat in long-standing lawsuits against Ripple Labs and Binance. These two cases were flagship enforcement actions during former SEC Chairman Gary Gensler’s tenure, involving large sums and complex legal disputes. The Ripple case was initiated in December 2020, with SEC accusing XRP of being unregistered securities; the case has dragged on for years. The Binance case involves issues related to unregistered exchange operations and customer fund management.

However, after Trump appointed cryptocurrency advocate Paul Atkins to replace Gensler, enforcement力度 on these cases sharply declined. While the SEC claims this is due to legal and policy adjustments, the timing raises suspicions. Reports indicate there is no evidence that President Trump directly pressured the SEC to abandon specific investigations, but the agency’s behavioral patterns clearly show a friendlier stance toward the crypto industry.

Galaxy Digital’s research head, Alex Thorn, believes that characterizing this shift as politically motivated ignores “the direct attacks by real partisans over the past four years.” He states that the reduction in enforcement力度 reflects a broader reassessment of the SEC’s previous stance on cryptocurrencies. However, this defense cannot explain why all companies linked to Trump have escaped scrutiny.

Trump’s Crypto Empire and SEC Leniency Overlap in Timing

The backdrop for the easing of enforcement力度 is the increasing connection between entities and digital asset industries associated with Trump. By 2025, projects related to the President or his family have expanded significantly, rapidly growing under the umbrella of relaxed SEC enforcement.

Trump Family’s Crypto Portfolio

World Liberty Financial: A DeFi platform founded by Trump’s son, which has profited $550 million from the sale of WLFI governance tokens, with USD 1 stablecoin sales reaching $2.71 billion.

Official Trump Meme Coins: TRUMP and MELANIA tokens generated approximately $427 million in sales and transaction fee revenue.

American Bitcoin: Mining businesses supported by the President’s sons, benefiting from a relaxed regulatory environment.

Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG): The parent company of Truth Social transitioned into crypto business, raising billions of dollars to purchase tokens.

These projects expanded rapidly after Trump returned to the White House, while the SEC simultaneously significantly reduced enforcement against the crypto industry. The timing overlap is hard to explain as mere coincidence. The New York Times explicitly reports that all companies with known links to Trump have gone uninvestigated, and this selective enforcement pattern has sparked unprecedented controversy over conflicts of interest.

Trump was not an early supporter of crypto; before the 2024 election, he called Bitcoin a “scam.” But during the campaign, his stance suddenly shifted, promising to become the “first crypto president” and firing Gensler. This 180-degree turn coincides precisely with his family’s crypto ventures, further fueling skepticism that regulatory policies are serving commercial interests.

Internal Disputes within the SEC and the Collapse of the Democratic Party’s Last Defense

The shift of the SEC under Trump was not a consensus among all, but a unilateral policy change led by the Republican side. As the last Democratic commissioner is about to leave, this unilateralism will become even more apparent. Caroline Crenshaw’s term was originally scheduled to expire in 2024, but she is expected to leave in January after an additional 18 months in office. Trump has not yet announced plans to fill her seat or other vacancies on the commission with Democratic appointees.

Crenshaw has been one of the critics of the relatively lenient attitude toward cryptocurrencies during the Trump-era SEC. In her last public appearance last week, she warned that deregulation could expose markets to broader contagion risks and cautioned that reducing oversight might harm investor protection. Such warnings are not unfounded; many past crypto bubbles burst amid regulatory vacuums.

The Republican appointee, Paul Atkins, is believed to favor market-driven regulation and is expected to continue serving as chairman in the foreseeable future. Atkins’ past positions show support for self-regulation and reduced government intervention. While this approach has theoretical appeal, in the reality of rampant scams and manipulation in crypto, it could lead to significant gaps in investor protection.

The complete exit of Democratic commissioners means the SEC will lose internal checks and balances, with all major decisions being driven by Republican members. This single-party control is extremely rare in the history of U.S. regulatory agencies and is often seen as an erosion of independent oversight principles.