House Democrats accused the SEC of fostering a “pay-to-play” culture after it dropped enforcement actions involving Binance, Coinbase, Kraken and Justin Sun in a letter sent Thursday. Lawmakers say the moves raise serious questions about regulatory fairness.
SEC Chair Paul Atkins said he expects bipartisan crypto market-structure legislation to advance and be signed by President Trump in the coming months, promising regulatory clarity and stronger investor protections. The move could position the U.S. as a global digital-assets hub and boost market sentiment.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has closed its investigation into the Zcash Foundation without filing charges, a sign of eased enforcement after recent high-profile cases. The move is being watched for implications to ZEC and broader regulatory clarity in crypto.
SEC Chair said it remains unclear whether Venezuela actually controls $60 billion in Bitcoin, while several blockchain analysts said they could not verify the claim. The uncertainty leaves regulators and markets without clear evidence on provenance and enforcement options.
Ripple sent a policy letter to the SEC’s Crypto Task Force on Jan. 12, 2026, asking for formal confirmation of XRP’s post-lawsuit status and advocating a 'promise-based' regulatory approach to bring clarity to digital asset enforcement.
The SEC postponed rulings on PENGU and a T. Rowe crypto ETF and opened a comment period on options tied to a Grayscale multi-asset crypto fund. The moves extend regulatory uncertainty while testing broader derivatives access to crypto products.
The SEC has postponed its decision on Canary Capital’s PENGU ETF, which would offer exposure to the Solana-based PENGU token and Pudgy Penguins NFTs. The delay keeps regulatory uncertainty alive for hybrid crypto-NFT products and their investors.
WisdomTree has pulled its XRP spot ETF application with the U.S. SEC even as XRP-related ETFs recorded more than $1.25 billion in inflows over recent weeks. The move highlights persistent regulatory uncertainty despite strong investor demand.
XRP jumped about 8% to trade above $2 after news that SEC Commissioner Caroline Crenshaw is leaving, a development traders view as potentially easing regulatory pressure. The market is pricing in a greater chance of a more crypto-friendly approach at the agency.