SEC Drops Case Against Cumberland DRW

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has agreed to drop its enforcement case against Cumberland DRW, the crypto trading arm of Chicago-based trading firm DRW, according to a Tuesday announcement from the company.

The SEC sued Cumberland DRW last October, accusing the firm of acting as an unregistered securities dealer and alleging it sold more than $2 billion in unregistered securities. The tokens mentioned include Polygon (POL), Solana (SOL), Cosmos (ATOM), Algorand (ALGO), and Filecoin (FIL), labeled as a non-exhaustive list of securities by the agency.

At the time of the lawsuit, Cumberland DRW and its CEO Don Wilson pledged to fight the charges. In an interview with CoinDesk last October, Wilson criticized the SEC’s unclear regulatory stance under then-Chair Gary Gensler, suggesting it allowed the agency to selectively enforce regulations.

> “This dynamic put the SEC in a position where they could say everyone is breaking the rule, and we’re just going to go after whoever we want to,” Wilson commented, drawing parallels to the themes in Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged.”

Just five months later, with new leadership under Acting Chair Mark Uyeda, the SEC has reversed its position. The decision to drop the suit against Cumberland DRW is part of a broader trend, as the SEC has also abandoned lawsuits against Coinbase and agreed to drop cases against ConsenSys and Kraken. Additionally, the SEC has closed multiple investigations into other crypto companies like Gemini, OpenSea, Robinhood Crypto, and Yuga Labs. The agreement with Cumberland awaits the approval of a majority of the three commissioners currently on the panel, following a recent decision to drop the Coinbase case.

Cumberland expressed its commitment to integrity and transparency, stating it looks forward to continuing discussions with the SEC for regulatory clarity and fostering innovation in the U.S. financial landscape.

A representative for Cumberland DRW declined to comment beyond the firm’s X post, and the SEC did not respond to CoinDesk’s request for additional comments.