SEC backs down on claiming SOL, ADA, MATIC and other tokens are securities in Binance suit

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) no longer asks the court to decide and deem the tokens named in its lawsuit against the crypto exchange Binance as securities. 

On July 30, the SEC filed a response to the court’s minute order on July 9, 2024. In the filing, the SEC wrote that it seeks to amend its complaint regarding the “Third Party Crypto Asset Securities” defined in its opposition to Binance’s motion to dismiss.

According to the SEC, this removes the need to “issue a ruling as to the sufficiency of the allegations as to those tokens at this time.” This means the government agency no longer asks the court to decide whether the affected tokens are securities.

Which tokens are affected?

In its suit against Binance, the SEC accused several tokens of being securities. The list includes BNB (BNB), Binance USD (BUSD), Solana (SOL), Cardano (ADA), Polygon (MATIC), Cosmos (ATOM), The Sandbox (SAND), Decentraland (MANA), Axie Infinity (AXS) and COTI (COTI).

These tokens are just part of a bigger list of tokens that the SEC believes to be securities. In June 2023, the SEC accused at least 68 tokens of being securities, affecting more than $100 billion worth of tokens in the crypto market.

Shifting views on crypto in the US

The SEC retracting its request to issue a ruling follows presidential candidates’ attempts to win over pro-crypto US voters.

On July 27, former president and candidate Donald Trump pledged to end the war on crypto as part of his campaign. At the Bitcoin 2024 conference in Nashville, Tennessee, Trump said that the US will be the “crypto capital of the planet.”

The Republican candidate also said he would fire SEC Chair Gary Gensler on his first day as president and appoint a crypto and Bitcoin presidential advisory council. Trump said he will appoint a new chairman to help America “build the future, not block the future.”

On the other side of the political spectrum, views on crypto are also beginning to shift. On July 27, Democratic members of the US House of Representatives signed a letter calling for the party to take a “forward-looking approach” to blockchain and digital assets.

In response to the letter, advisers of presidential candidate and incumbent Vice President Kamala Harris contacted crypto companies to repair the party's ties to the crypto industry.