More SEC Case Updates

Late Friday, attorneys with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Binance filed a joint status report asking a federal judge to continue a 60-day pause in the case for another 60 days.

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The narrative

We heard about two more Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) cases this week. The first, Binance and the SEC, was last paused in February, though late Friday attorneys asked for another extension to continue discussing matters. Separately, Nova Labs settled allegations with the regulator.

Why it matters

As we continue to watch the SEC develop its new views on digital asset issues, how it treats its active litigation remains a key signal.

Breaking it down

On Friday, attorneys with the SEC and Binance (as well as Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, Binance.US and other parties) filed a joint motion asking the federal judge overseeing the case to extend a pause originally set to expire Monday by another 60 days.

Originally, the SEC said it was requesting the pause to see how the agency’s new crypto task force might address digital assets and the application of securities laws. Friday’s filing echoed this argument, saying the task force’s work “may impact” its claims in the ongoing litigation. The original pause was set to end on April 14.

The SEC also filed a motion for a consent judgement after apparently coming to a settlement agreement with Nova Labs, the company behind Helium. According to the proposal, Nova Labs would pay $200,000 but would not admit to or deny the allegations.

The SEC first sued Nova Labs in January 2025 — specifically, Jan. 17, 2025, three days before Donald Trump was sworn into office as the 47th U.S. President.

I imagine there are more cases or investigations being resolved than CoinDesk has caught — if you’ve received a Wells Notice and that’s now been resolved, please hit us up, we’re very curious. You can reply to this email or reach out on Telegram and Signal.

• DOJ Axes Crypto Unit as Trump’s Regulatory Pullback Continues: The Departmetn of Justice disbanded its National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team and ordered prosecutors not to bring a case where it may find itself adjudicating what a security or commodity is in the digital assets sector. More on this next week.
• Inside North Korea’s Favorite Crypto Laundering Tool: THORChain: THORChain and wallets built on the network have become increasingly favored by North Korean hackers looking to move funds stolen from other crypto projects. The network’s operators have refused to block transactions tied to the Bybit theft from February.
• SEC Approves Trading of Ether ETF Options: The SEC has not yet approved any new exchange-traded products for tokens like Solana or Litecoin ETFs but it did green-light ether ETF options trading this week.
• New SEC Staff Statement Urges Detailed Crypto Token Disclosures: The latest SEC staff statement, which came out a day before its second roundtable discussion, focused on the details it’s observed in disclosures from crypto companies launching registered security products.
• Atkins Confirmed by U.S. Senate to Take Over SEC Formerly Run by Gensler: Speaking of the SEC, the Senate confirmed Trump’s nominee for chair Paul Atkins, though he hadn’t been sworn in by 1:00 p.m. ET Friday.
• Former Ethereum Developer Virgil Griffith Leaves Prison, Seeks Pardon: Virgil Griffith, an Ethereum developer who pleaded guilty to violating sanctions law and was sentenced to 56 months in prison, has been released to a halfway house and is now seeking a pardon, one of his attorneys said.
• President Trump Signs Resolution Erasing IRS Crypto Rule Targeting DeFi: U.S. President Donald Trump signed the joint House and Senate resolution overturning the IRS’ DeFi broker rule under the Congressional Review Act, meaning the IRS can never bring a similar rule forth again. This is the first crypto-specific, Congressionally-passed item Trump has signed since taking office, marking a milestone for the crypto industry.
• 1 In 5 Cross-Chain Crypto Investigations Involve More Than 10 Blockchains, Elliptic Finds: Blockchain analytics firm Elliptic said 20% of its investigations into funds sent across multiple chains now involve at least 10 different networks.
• Ripple and SEC File Joint Motion to Pause Appeals: Ripple and the SEC have filed a joint motion to pause their ongoing appeals, following on from last month’s announcement that the parties came to an agreement to resolve the case entirely.
• Block Agrees to $40M Settlement With New York Over Faulty Money-Laundering Controls: Block and the New York Attorney General’s office settled allegations that Block did not have a fully functioning anti-money laundering process for its Cash App.
• Judge Rules Against Most of DCG’s Motion to Dismiss NYAG’s Civil Securities Fraud Suit: A New York state judge tossed out two of the New York Attorney General’s claims against Digital Currency Group and its executives but allowed most of the case to proceed in a late Friday ruling.

Wednesday

• 14:00 UTC (10:00 a.m. ET) The House Financial Services Committee held a hearing to discuss issues ahead of an expected market structure bill addressing crypto.
• 18:00 UTC (2:00 p.m. ET) The House Agriculture Committee also held a hearing on similar topics.

Thursday

• 14:00 UTC (10:00 a.m. ET) The Senate Banking Committee held a confirmation hearing on a raft of nominees, including Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision nominee Michelle Bowman. While she received a few questions about reviewing the regulatory response to Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse, there was not anything substantive around crypto during the hearing.
• 14:30 UTC (10:30 a.m. ET) The court overseeing the Department of Justice’s case against Do Kwon held a status conference hearing, where his trial was rescheduled to February 2026. Prosecutors said the DOJ memo from earlier this week would have no bearing on the case.

Friday

• 17:00 UTC (1:00 p.m. ET) The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission held its second crypto roundtable, this time on trading rules. Acting SEC Chair Mark Uyeda, in recorded remarks, suggested that the agency could look at an interim regulatory framework for companies until it has more permanent rules in place.

• (CNN) On Monday, pseudonymous X (formerly Twitter) accounts posted about a “90-day pause in tariffs” that sent markets soaring, before the White House denied the claim, which may have been based on a misinterpretation of White House official Kevin Hassett’s response to a question during a Fox News interview.
• (CNN) On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump did announce a 90-day pause in the higher tariff rates against most countries, leaving in place the 10% tariff rate he first announced last week. Tariff rates on China went up to 125% (later clarified to 145%).
• (CNBC) The U.S. stock market had a “historically wild week” with swings up and down as traders reacted to the possible effects new U.S. tariffs might have on global trade.
• (Reuters) Aircraft parts manufacturer Howmet Aerospace, based in Pittsburgh, warned customers that U.S. tariffs might cause it to halt some shipments.
• (Bloomberg) Website owners said Google’s new AI-generated answers feature has cratered traffic to their websites, though Google is denying this.

If you’ve got thoughts or questions on what I should discuss next week or any other feedback you’d like to share, feel free to email me at nik@coindesk.com or find me on Bluesky @nikhileshde.bsky.social.

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See ya’ll next week!