The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has formally dropped its lawsuit against Binance and co-founder Changpeng Zhao.
A joint motion to dismiss the case was filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., on May 29. In its initial complaint, filed in June 2023, the SEC claimed that Binance had diverted customer assets, inflated trading volumes, and granted U.S. investors access to its unregistered international platform.
In addition, it accused Binance of illegally listing tokens such as Solana (SOL) and Cardano (ADA), which the agency classified as securities. The complaint was amended in October 2024 to include additional details.
The agency’s latest filing confirms that the lawsuit is dismissed “with prejudice,” meaning the SEC cannot refile the same claims. The filing explicitly states that this decision is based on “discretion and as a policy matter,” and does not set a precedent for how the SEC may treat future enforcement cases in the crypto sector.
The case had been paused twice in 2025, once in February and again in April, following the launch of a new crypto task force under acting SEC Chairman Mark T. Uyeda. The parties indicated that the task force’s work might inform or facilitate a resolution. With this week’s filing, the SEC has signaled its intent to shift from enforcement-led actions to policy development.
Binance responded on X, calling the dismissal a “huge win for crypto,” and credited President Trump and current SEC Chair Paul Atkins for steering the agency away from what it described as “regulation by enforcement.”
The SEC’s decision comes more than a year after Binance settled criminal charges with the U.S. Department of Justice in November 2023, agreeing to pay $4.3 billion and admitting to money laundering and sanctions violations. As part of that agreement, Zhao was sentenced to four months in prison and resigned as chief executive officer.
The SEC has also halted enforcement actions against other major crypto companies in recent months, including those against Coinbase, Consensys, and Kraken. This shows a change in policy under the Trump administration, which has strategically placed pro-crypto appointees in key positions of influence.
