SEC to Dismiss Case Against Cumberland DRW Amid Crypto Policy Shift

Cumberland DRW announced that it has reached an agreement with SEC staff to dismiss the lawsuit filed against it last year, pending approval from the Commissioners. This is among several cases being dropped under new SEC acting Chair Mark Uyeda.

The SEC sued Cumberland in October, alleging it conducted $2 billion in unregistered securities transactions, including assets like Polygon, Solana, Cosmos Atom, Algorand, and Filecoin. Cumberland pushed back, arguing the SEC offered no path for compliance since regulated broker-dealers could only trade Bitcoin and Ether, which are classified as commodities, not securities.

While the SEC primarily targeted crypto-native firms, Cumberland’s case was unique as it bridged the traditional financial (TradFi) sector. The regulator had also investigated Robinhood but dropped the probe last week.

The Cumberland case is just one of several the SEC has recently dropped. The SEC has now formally dismissed its lawsuit against Coinbase and agreed to drop cases against Consensys and Kraken. Several other crypto investigations, including those into OpenSea, Uniswap, Yuga Labs, and Gemini, have also been closed. However, the case against Ripple remains unresolved, with speculation that a prior court ruling complicates its dismissal.

This wave of dismissals suggests a broader shift in the U.S. regulatory climate. Lawmakers are actively working on clearer legal frameworks for digital assets, with a stablecoin bill introduced in early February aimed at reinforcing the dollar’s dominance.