The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has decided to dismiss its case against Cumberland DRW, a Chicago-based cryptocurrency trading firm, months after accusing it of operating as an unregistered securities dealer.
In a March 4 announcement on X, Cumberland confirmed that it had reached an agreement with the SEC on February 20, leading both parties to file for a formal dismissal of the lawsuit. While the SEC’s approval is still pending, the firm expressed confidence that the matter is effectively resolved.
Cumberland characterized the decision as a positive step toward fostering cooperation between regulators and the crypto industry. The company emphasized its commitment to continuing discussions with the SEC to ensure a regulatory framework that balances technological innovation with legal clarity.
The lawsuit, originally filed by the SEC on October 10 2024, alleged that Cumberland had conducted more than $2 billion in cryptocurrency trades without proper registration. The commission claimed the firm executed these transactions through its proprietary trading platform, Marea, as well as over-the-counter deals handled via phone. The agency specifically classified five tokens—Polygon, Solana, Cosmos, Algorand, and Filecoin—as securities under federal law.
As part of its legal action, the SEC sought permanent injunctive relief, disgorgement of profits, prejudgment interest, and civil penalties. Cumberland, however, pushed back against the allegations, arguing that it had registered as a dealer-broker in 2019 and had engaged in good-faith discussions with the SEC for five years.
This case marks another recent instance of the SEC withdrawing from high-profile cryptocurrency litigation. In the past few weeks, the regulator has dropped lawsuits against major exchanges like Coinbase and Kraken and concluded investigations into NFT-related companies Yuga Labs and OpenSea. More recently, it also ended probes into Uniswap Labs and Gemini.
Meanwhile, the SEC, under Commissioner Hester Peirce, has introduced key personnel for its newly established Crypto Task Force. The team is set to hold a series of roundtable discussions to provide clearer guidance on the regulatory status of digital assets, with the first session scheduled for March 21 at the agency’s headquarters in Washington, D.C.
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