Coinbase, a top digital currency platform, said on Friday that federal regulators would cast lawsuits brought during the Biden administration, seeking to strengthen grip on crypto assets.
Coinbase Chief Executive Paul Grawar said: “We have promised to keep it to the gates of hell.
A SEC spokesman declined to comment.
The move comes after President Donald Trump vowed to take a light touch approach to regulating cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin in his presidential campaign last year.
The 47th President began selling digital tokens last month. Currently, the market value is only $3 billion.
The rare U-turn by the Fed will have to be officially engraved with rubber stamps in a vote by SEC officials, but Coinbase believes it will happen next week.
The SEC sued the company in 2023 under former chairman Gary Gensler, accusing it of behaving like a stock exchange and breaking laws aimed at protecting investors.
Gensler has sparked the outrage of Crypto and Digital Investor over what is considered an overly aggressive stance when trying to regulate the industry, like the rest of Wall Street.
Sources close to the commander previously said that the SEC under Gensler's leadership has been “fraudulent” as investors called for a “turf war” with fellow regulators, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. He spoke in a post in November.
Another boost to the crypto industry, acting SEC chairman Mark Weda said Thursday that Gensler's special executive division would be dissolved.
He also took a thinly veiled swipe of Gensler and vowed to “develop enforcement resources wisely.”
Trump's choice to become the next permanent chairman of the SEC is Paul Atkins, a custody lawyer who served as SEC committee member in the George W. Bush administration.
Atkins must first face a confirmation hearing before the Senate Banking Committee before the rest of the Senate votes on whether he should hold that position.
No dates for the hearing have been set yet.
