US Judge Pauses State Attorney General Crypto Lawsuit Against the SEC, Cites Regulator’s Leadership Transition

A federal judge has approved a motion to suspend the lawsuit filed by a group of state attorneys general and the advocacy group DeFi Education Fund against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The complaint filed in November alleges that the SEC acted beyond its authority in filing enforcement actions against crypto exchanges, arguing that the power the regulator asserts over digital assets belongs to individual states.

“[W]ithout Congressional authorization, the SEC has sought to unilaterally wrest regulatory authority away from the States through an ongoing series of enforcement actions targeting the digital asset industry, premised on the theory that practically all purchases and sales of digital assets are ‘investment contracts.’”

On April 16th, Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove of the Eastern District of Kentucky ordered a 60-day pause on the deadlines and legal proceedings related to the case following the appointment of pro-crypto businessman Paul Atkins as the new SEC chair.

The development comes as the SEC takes a more friendly approach to the digital assets industry. The securities watchdog has already dropped numerous key crypto cases, including those involving the blockchain payments firm Ripple and the crypto exchange Kraken.

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