The SEC just threw in the towel on its big lawsuit against Binance. After almost two years of legal drama, regulators walked away from their case against the world’s largest crypto exchange Thursday. It’s the biggest sign yet that Trump’s team plans to handle digital assets completely differently than Biden did.

Crypto investors have been holding their breath since this whole mess started. Now, they can finally exhale. The dismissal doesn’t just help Binance; it tells the entire industry that the days of surprise lawsuits might be over.

How This All Started

Gary Gensler’s SEC went nuclear on Binance back in June 2023. They accused the company of faking trading numbers, stealing customer money, and flat-out lying about their security. These weren’t small potatoes accusations. If true, they would’ve meant Binance was running what amounted to a massive fraud.

The government also claimed Binance was letting people trade crypto tokens that should’ve been registered as securities. That’s important because securities have way more rules attached. It would’ve meant some popular crypto coins might get banned from regular trading platforms.

Anyone with money in crypto felt their stomach drop when this lawsuit hit. Your Bitcoin could lose half its value based on whatever the SEC decides to do next.

Why “With Prejudice” Matters

When lawyers say a case got dismissed “with prejudice,” it means game over. The SEC can’t come back later with the same complaints. It’s like getting a permanent get-out-of-jail-free card for these specific accusations.

The SEC said they made this call based on “discretion and policy.” Translation: the new administration doesn’t want to fight these battles anymore. Reuters reported that this extends the regulator’s new approach to cryptocurrencies since Trump returned to office.

What the Industry Is Saying

Binance is obviously thrilled. They’re calling it historic and thanking Trump’s people for finally getting it. But other crypto companies are staying cautious. They’ve been burned before by regulatory flip-flops.

The whole crypto world has been complaining about “regulation by enforcement” for years. Instead of clear rules, companies got sued and had to figure out what was legal based on court cases. It’s like playing football when the refs make up rules as they go.

Securities laws were written when FDR was president. Trying to apply 1930s rules to blockchain technology never made much sense. Crypto companies wanted to be treated like commodities instead—think gold or oil, not stocks and bonds.

This Isn’t Happening in a Vacuum

The SEC also dropped its case against Coinbase earlier this year. Paul Atkins, the new SEC chairman, keeps talking about giving crypto companies clear guidelines instead of surprise lawsuits. It’s night and day compared to how Gensler operated.

Regular people got caught in the crossfire of this regulatory war. Crypto prices would crater every time the SEC made threatening noises. Small businesses that accepted Bitcoin payments never knew if they were breaking some obscure rule.

The enforcement isn’t totally dead. The SEC still went after Unicoin in May for running what looked like a straight-up scam. But there’s a difference between going after obvious fraudsters and suing legitimate businesses.

Real People Paid the Price

Changpeng Zhao, Binance’s founder, spent four months in federal prison last year. That was part of a separate case where Binance paid $4.3 billion for money laundering violations. Crypto supporters saw his imprisonment as proof the government had gone too far.

Ordinary investors suffered more than anyone. During the worst of the regulatory crackdowns, people would wake up to find their crypto portfolios down 20% because of some new enforcement action. It was like having your retirement account tied to the daily mood of federal bureaucrats.

Smart entrepreneurs started moving their companies overseas. Why deal with American regulators when Singapore and Switzerland were rolling out red carpets for crypto businesses?

What Happens Now

Trump promised to be the “crypto president” during his campaign. Dropping the Binance case is him keeping that promise. But the real question is whether this new approach will stick around when political winds change again.

Crypto isn’t some fringe thing anymore. Major companies hold Bitcoin on their balance sheets. Pension funds are buying digital assets. Your neighbour probably owns some crypto in their retirement account. These people need consistent rules, not regulatory chaos every four years.

The Binance news is good for crypto investors in the short term. But the industry needs Congress to pass actual laws instead of relying on whoever happens to be running the SEC. Until that happens, we’re just one election away from the next regulatory crackdown.

For now, though, crypto companies can plan for the future without looking over their shoulders. That alone might be worth more than any lawsuit victory.