SEC Veteran Desires Regulator&#039, s Crypto Investigations to ‘ Grind to a Screeching Halt ‘

Former U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ( SEC ) attorney John Reed Stark anticipates” all informal and formal SEC crypto-related investigations to grind to a screeching halt,” including its years-long legal battle with Ripple.

Stark, who formerly served as chief of the SEC Office of Internet Enforcement, tweeted that he expects the “SEC to clear the SEC test unit to pause all crypto-related litigation or, otherwise, to live or ignore all SEC crypto-related cases quickly on very favorable terms to the crypto-defendants”.

The announcement comes as a number of well-known bitcoin cases have been put on hold in recent months. A federal prosecutor earlier this month granted a joint demand by the SEC and the crypto change Binance to put the trials on hold for 60 days.

Nevertheless, in January another federal judge ruled that the SEC’s case against Coinbase may become paused until an appeals court can make a choice, prompting Stark to consider,” Stick a knife in the SEC’s circumstance against Coinbase, it’s done”.

The original SEC prosecutor, who spent two years at the company, said he expects all continued cryptocurrency-related appeals, including Ripple’s, to either be paused or “fully withdrawn”. Stark just stated” quickly” when he anticipated the Ripple situation to be halted.

Stark’s promises were supported by a number of current events. These include the change of Jorge Tenreiro, the SEC’s lead prosecutor in high-profile bitcoin cases—including those of Ripple and Binance—to the SEC’s knowledge engineering department. Over 50 attorneys and team members were reassigned earlier this month by the SEC.

SEC versus Wave

In December 2020, the SEC filed a lawsuit against Ripple, alleging that Co-founder Chris Larsen and CEO Brad Garlinghouse have been offering$ 1.3 billion in unregistered securities since 2013.

The proceedings dragged on through numerous rounds of appeals, primarily regarding whether or not the XRP gift should be regarded as a security ( and thus subject to stocks regulations ).

A New York federal court in July 2023 determined that Ripple’s XRP sales on online exchanges should not be regarded as investment contracts.

Nevertheless, in January 2025, the SEC appealed to reverse the judge’s earlier decision.