As the new U.S. president and Congress are about to take office, the American cryptocurrency industry anticipates that the new regulatory authorities may bring more favorable regulatory policies. First, Ripple's General Counsel Stuart Alderoty posted on X community on December 31, stating that he hopes the SEC will confirm some principles regarding the regulation of digital assets, such as the criteria that 'the token itself is not a security, but may involve securities transactions.' Ripple is currently appealing a ruling that imposed a $125 million fine in August 2024 for unregistered securities issuance.
Coinbase's General Counsel Paul Grewal believes that the overturning of the Chevron principle by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2024 will affect the SEC's regulatory approach. This ruling requires courts to interpret the law themselves, which may change how cases related to digital assets are handled. Looking ahead to 2025, the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) still have unresolved cases against several cryptocurrency companies.
In addition, U.S. judicial authorities will continue to handle criminal cases related to former executives of FTX, Celsius, and Terraform Labs. With leadership changes at the SEC, CFTC, or the New York Attorney General's Office, the direction of existing cases may shift. The inauguration of the Trump camp at the beginning of the year will be a trigger point for the 'regulatory easing' theme in the cryptocurrency market. The industry is looking forward to subsequent open policies that could create a more conducive business environment for crypto innovation and possibly drive the return of DeFi staking and potential opportunities in the main chain coin boom.