This is a segment from The Drop newsletter. To read full editions, subscribe.
The SEC has been killing investigations left and right in the past week, freeing Robinhood, OpenSea and Coinbase from its regulatory probes.
The agency has now closed its investigation into Uniswap Labs, according to posts from the company published Tuesday.
“This is a huge win for DeFi and reaffirms what we’ve always known — that the technology we build is on the right side of the law, and our work is on the right side of history,” Uniswap Labs wrote on X.
In a blog post, the company called the closure a “welcome relief” and praised the SEC’s new leadership — which no longer includes known crypto critic and former Chair Gary Gensler — for seeing a “more effective path to protecting American consumers.”
Uniswap inventor and Uniswap Labs CEO Hayden Adams shared this stance as well in a lengthy post responding to the news. He argues that Uniswap isn’t a broker and doesn’t fit into existing financial regulatory frameworks. Square peg, round hole.
That’s been an argument used by many crypto executives, believing that digital assets don’t fit neatly into existing classifications like securities or commodities.
Seeing execs at OpenSea, Coinbase and Uniswap applaud the SEC now is such a marked change. Just a few months ago, crypto execs decried the federal agency because of a perceived lack of transparency and clarity — and because they could have been forced to pay tens of millions in fines.
Source: Uniswap TVL over time
Uniswap Labs, however, already spent “tens of millions” fighting the SEC, Uniswap Labs COO Mary-Catherine Lader shared.
“Massive W for builders,” OpenSea CEO Devin Finzer said in response to the closed case.
Most responses from crypto fans were overwhelmingly positive — it’s obviously a win for DeFi, and a win for crypto.
