Crypto exchange Coinbase has said the US regulator has dropped its enforcement case against the firm, pending approval from the regulator.

In 2023 the SEC under former chair Gary Gensler had opened the case against Coinbase after allegations of “operating an unregistered securities exchange and for failing to properly register its crypto staking program,” according to CNBC.

If confirmed, the news will be another sign of a more lenient and friendly approach towards the crypto industry by the Trump administration, the report says.

Coinbase co-founder and CEO Brian Armstrong told CNBC it was a huge day for his firm and the wider crypto industry, and added that the company won’t be paying any fines.

“I think it’s a really important signal that, [after] a small group of activists in this prior administration who tried to unlawfully attack this industry, we’re going to be able to turn the page on that and finally get some regulatory clarity in America,” he said.

According to CNBC, one of the key disagreements between the SEC under Gensler and crypto exchanges was that the regulator considered some crypto assets as securities and therefore applied existing rules, whilst the industry asked for a new set of laws to regulate the digital assets industry.

There is now hope that the crypto task force under President Trump will provide that regulatory clarity to firms and investors dealing with crypto.

Nigeria sues Binance

But its bad news for another major global crypto exchange, Binance, which has been sued by the Nigerian government for financial losses and back taxes.

As reported by The Guardian, court documents released on Wednesday show that the African state is asking for $79.5 billion for the financial losses which the government blames on Binance’s operations in that country. The Nigerian government is also asking for another $2 billion in back taxes, according to the report.

The main allegation against Binance relates to the difficulties faced by the Nigerian national currency, which was being traded on crypto websites in 2024.

Binance is not registered in Nigeria but has said it is working with the country’s regulators to “resolve potential historic tax liabilities.”

Crypto pain for another president

Last week we discussed how the president of Argentina had landed himself in trouble due to a miscalculated crypto venture. That stretch of bad luck seems to have reached African leaders too.

As reported by the Financial Times, Faustin-Archange Touadéra, president of the Central African Republic, tried to mimic Donald Trump by launching a so-called memecoin. Unfortunately for him, the coin collapsed son after its launch as no one seemed to take it seriously.

Despite the pain, President Touadéra tried to defend the decision, writing on X that it was “an experiment designed to show how something as simple as a meme can unite people, support national development and put CAR on the world stage in a unique way.”

A government account on X created to promote the coin was suspended, and the president’s promotional video was also picked up by deepfake tools on X, both factors further adding to the project’s miserable fate.

SEC’s crypto challenge

The FT has published an opinion piece about how the US’ SEC has an opportunity, with the arrival of new leadership, to finally get some serious work done on crypto regulation.

The author argues that incoming head Paul Atkins will need to change the way the SEC has dealt with crypto in the past, and establish a more predictable regulatory path. “Under acting chair Mark Uyeda, the SEC has already hit the ground running with the creation of a new crypto task force led by Commissioner Hester Peirce.”

The author also refers to the announcement in January by the task force which criticised the previous administration’s approach to crypto regulation in the US.

“To date, the SEC has relied primarily on enforcement actions to regulate crypto retroactively and reactively, often adopting novel and untested legal interpretations along the way,” the piece said.

The author also believes that a lack of regulatory clarity around crypto in the US has driven business opportunities elsewhere, depriving the US of a massive market.

Removing regulatory constraints around crypto ETFs, finding a funding source for crypto oversight and showing clear intent to investors are some of the recommendations put forward.