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Robinhood says an SEC crypto investigation is over

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Robinhood (HOOD) said the Securities and Exchange Commission ended an investigation into whether the retail trading platform failed to register certain digital assets as securities, another apparent shift by the Trump administration to undo the SEC’s aggressive approach to the crypto industry.

"We applaud the staff’s decision to close this investigation with no action," said Dan Gallagher, the firm’s chief legal, compliance, and corporate affairs officer. The SEC declined to comment.

Robinhood's stock was down roughly 7% in Monday morning trading as other crypto-related stocks also dropped.

The prices of some digital assets have been falling in recent days following news that a crypto derivatives exchange called Bybit had been hacked in what some are calling the largest theft in crypto history.

NasdaqGS - Nasdaq Real Time Price USD

(HOOD)

50.78
-
(-1.59%)
As of 2:38:57 PM EST. Market Open.

The Robinhood announcement is the latest of several SEC retreats claimed by digital asset companies who say they are no longer a regulatory target.

Coinbase (COIN), the largest US cryptocurrency exchange, said Friday that it expects the SEC to drop a lawsuit alleging Coinbase had not properly registered as a securities exchange. And OpenSea CEO Devin Finzer also said on X Friday that the SEC was ending a probe into whether his non-fungible token marketplace offered securities.

The OpenSea platform was hit with an SEC Wells notice in August 2024. Robinhood received its Wells notice in May 2024.

"This is a win for everyone who is creating and building in our space," Finzer said on X Friday evening. The SEC declined to comment on OpenSea’s claim.

Baiju Bhatt, left, and Vladimir Tenev, Co-Founders of Robinhood, walk on Wall Street following their company's IPO at Nasdaq, Thursday, July 29, 2021 in New York. Robinhood is selling its own stock on Wall Street, the very place the online brokerage has rattled with its stated goal of democratizing finance. Through its app, Robinhood has introduced millions to investing and reshaped the brokerage industry, all while racking up a long list of controversies in less than eight years. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
Baiju Bhatt, left, and Vladimir Tenev, co-Founders of Robinhood, walk on Wall Street following their company's IPO in 2021. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan) · ASSOCIATED PRESS

Another SEC lawsuit filed against cryptocurrency exchange Binance has also been paused for 60 days.

During the Biden administration, the regulator under the leadership of Gary Gensler clashed with many of the industry’s top companies and figures via lawsuits and enforcement actions, often arguing that securities laws were being violated.

Donald Trump made a number of promises to the industry while campaigning for president and the arrival of a new administration has prompted a lot of new optimism in the crypto world about a new tone at the SEC.

SEC commissioner Hester Peirce told Yahoo Finance on Friday that she now hopes to provide "greater clarity" for a crypto industry that long argued Washington, D.C., treated it unfairly and inconsistently.