The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has seen new developments in its stance towards cryptocurrency, in two major cases involving He Yi's Tron Foundation and the Non-Fungible Token (NFT) market OpenSea.

SEC and Justin Sun, Tron Foundation jointly request to pause litigation

Since 2023, the SEC has been investigating Justin Sun and the TRON Foundation, accusing them of market manipulation, fraud, and issuing unregistered securities. The SEC pointed out that Justin Sun attempted to inflate the trading volume of the TRX token through wash trading, which violates the principles of fair market.

Recently, the three parties have jointly filed a request, asking the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to pause the litigation and seek a "potential resolution", suggesting that both parties are willing to reach a settlement.

According to the documents submitted to the court, this move to pause the litigation is in the interests of all parties and will not harm any party or the public. If approved by the court, the case will enter a 60-day suspension period, during which the parties will need to submit updates on the progress of the case. This approach is similar to the SEC's handling of the Coinbase and Binance cases in the past, indicating that the SEC is adjusting its regulatory strategy for the cryptocurrency market, with more negotiations and settlements becoming possible.

OpenSea investigation ends, a positive signal for the NFT industry

Meanwhile, the SEC has announced the conclusion of its investigation into the world's largest NFT marketplace, OpenSea. Since August 2024, the SEC had issued a Wells notice to OpenSea, accusing it of trading unregistered securities, but after a period of investigation, the SEC has decided not to pursue the case further. This is undoubtedly a major victory for the NFT industry.

In a statement, OpenSea CEO Devin Finzer said:

This is not only a victory for OpenSea, but also a positive signal for the entire NFT market. He emphasized that classifying NFTs as securities would be a serious misinterpretation of the law and would hinder innovation. In Finzer's view, this decision will help reduce the legal risks faced by NFT projects, allowing more innovative projects to develop healthily.

Although OpenSea and Magic Eden are competitors, Magic Eden's CBO Chris Akhavan stated that the conclusion of the OpenSea investigation is a victory for the entire NFT market. He believes that even though the two companies are competitors, they both remain optimistic about the potential of NFT technology, which is beneficial for the development of the entire industry.