Recently, the United States has been sending positive signals regarding the regulation of the cryptocurrency industry: On February 26, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced the termination of its three-year investigation into Uniswap Labs without taking any enforcement action; market-making giants Wintermute and Citadel Securities have begun to enter the U.S. market; Tornado Cash founder Alexey Pertsev has been granted temporary release by a Dutch court… After the new government took office, it has continuously "reversed" previous harsh accusations against the cryptocurrency industry, welcoming the influx of fresh blood, which has sparked discussions on whether the regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies is shifting towards "loosening." How to regulate in a way that better fits decentralized institutions has always been an unresolved issue in financial regulation, leading to many long-standing controversial lawsuits.

Uniswap: SEC Investigation Terminated

As early as 2021, the SEC began investigating Uniswap Labs, questioning whether it operated as an unregistered securities exchange and whether its UNI token constituted an illegal securities offering. On April 11, 2024, the SEC issued a warning to Uniswap Labs in the form of a "Wells Notice," planning to take enforcement action against the company. On May 22, Uniswap Labs responded for the first time to the notice received from the SEC in April, stating that the Uniswap Protocol is a safe, low-cost, and transparent infrastructure, that its protocol does not meet the definition of an exchange, and that the UNI token does not meet the "investment contract" standard. The SEC should embrace open-source technology that improves outdated business and financial systems rather than trying to eliminate it through litigation. On July 10, Uniswap Labs Chief Legal Officer Katherine Minarik posted on social media, urging the SEC not to continue advancing its proposed rule-making process, which inappropriately expanded the definition of "trading platforms" to include DeFi and more.

Uniswap Labs' defense includes the following key points:

The Uniswap protocol, website, and wallet do not meet the legal definitions of a securities exchange or broker;

The UNI token is held by over 300,000 holders, its value does not depend on the efforts of Uniswap Labs, and it is decentralized, similar to Bitcoin and Ethereum, and should not be considered a security.

Image source: Uniswap Blog

On February 26, 2025, the SEC finally terminated its investigation into Uniswap Labs, which had previously accused it of operating an unregistered securities exchange, broker, or clearing agency, and possibly issuing unregistered securities, and withdrew all charges. Uniswap founder Hayden Adams stated that the SEC's enforcement lacked a clear legal basis, and as a selective enforcement strategy, the SEC attempted to forcibly include DeFi within a regulatory framework that does not apply, while refusing to provide clear rules or compliance pathways. This investigation lasted over three years, wasting a significant amount of time and millions of dollars. The UNI token also briefly rose nearly 10%, reflecting a strong market reaction.

This turmoil has finally come to an end, with Uniswap Labs calling it a "major victory for DeFi," emphasizing: "This once again proves the fact we have always believed—that the technology we have built stands on the right side of the law, and our work stands on the right side of history."

Uniswap's victory is not only a victory for decentralization but also a reminder that relevant departments should introduce appropriate regulatory policies. DeFi provides alternatives to traditional financial services such as lending, trading, and asset management through blockchain smart contracts, aiming to eliminate the influence of centralized institutions on the market. However, its decentralized nature complicates regulation, as existing legal frameworks primarily target centralized financial institutions, lacking understanding and experience in regulating decentralized platforms. Although the SEC and other regulatory bodies have attempted to apply anti-money laundering (AML) and know your customer (KYC) regulations to DeFi, the execution is challenging.

Former SEC Chairman Gary Gensler once referred to DeFi as the "Wild West," emphasizing the need for stricter regulation. The Uniswap case shows that existing securities laws may not fully apply to decentralized platforms, and future congressional legislation may be needed to establish a dedicated DeFi regulatory framework.

Tornado Cash Case Sees a Turnaround

Another typical case that was severely sanctioned by U.S. regulators but eventually achieved victory after a long legal battle is Tornado Cash.

Tornado Cash is a privacy protocol on Ethereum that can obfuscate the source, destination, and counterparties of transactions, aiming to facilitate anonymous transactions indiscriminately without attempting to determine their origin. Its original design was to protect user privacy, but it has also drawn regulatory attention due to its use in money laundering.

In August 2022, the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned Tornado Cash. The Treasury stated that since its creation in 2019, it had been used to launder over $7 billion in virtual currency, including $455 million stolen by the North Korean government-supported hacking group Lazarus Group; additionally, Tornado Cash was used to launder over $96 million in illegal funds from the June 24, 2022, Harmony Bridge hacking incident, and at least $7.8 million in stolen funds from the August 2, 2022, Nomad hacking incident.

Image source: U.S. Treasury website

The Treasury's sanctions primarily included prohibiting access, prohibiting businesses and citizens from interacting with it, prohibiting U.S. institutions or platforms from engaging in financial transactions with it, and freezing all assets owned or controlled by Tornado Cash within the United States.

Furthermore, in May 2024, a Dutch court found Tornado Cash founder Alexey Pertsev guilty of assisting in the laundering of $2.2 billion in cryptocurrency, sentencing him to 64 months in prison. The prosecution accused him of failing to prevent hacking organizations (such as North Korea's Lazarus Group) from using the protocol for money laundering, although the defense emphasized the protocol's "decentralization" and "uncontrollability." The court ruled that developers still need to be held accountable for misuse.

The Tornado Cash incident signifies that the struggle between "crypto protocols" and "regulation" has escalated again. The sanctions against Tornado Cash represent a direct attack on the protocol by regulators, with the Treasury believing that creating a privacy protocol for criminals constitutes a criminal act, disregarding the protocol's inherent "decentralization" and "uncontrollability."

Image source: CoinDesk, crowds gathering to protest in support of protecting crypto technology and privacy

A shift occurred at the end of 2024. On November 28, 2024, the court ruled that the immutable smart contracts of Tornado Cash do not constitute property and cannot be sanctioned under current law, meaning that the Treasury's previous sanctions against Tornado Cash were illegal. As 10X Research stated in a report to investors: "While this ruling does not endorse money laundering, it sets a precedent allowing programmers to develop and publish smart contract protocols without fear of sanctions." Former Coinbase CTO and prominent cryptocurrency entrepreneur Balaji Srinivasan tweeted: "Privacy won. Smart contracts won. Tornado Cash won. And OFAC lost." The Tornado Cash protocol token TORN also surged rapidly after the ruling was made public, rising from a low of $3.7 to a high of $43 within an hour.

In January 2025, a Texas court again supported overturning the sanctions, stating that the U.S. Treasury's approval of actions against Tornado Cash exceeded its authority, further confirming the invalidity of the Treasury's sanctions.

Having shed the "illegal" label, Alexey Pertsev also announced two months later that the Dutch court had agreed to suspend his pre-trial detention under electronic monitoring conditions, allowing him to be temporarily released on February 7 at 10 a.m. Pertsev stated that this would give him the opportunity to continue appealing and fighting for justice, thanking all supporters for their help.

Related Reading: "Historic Ruling: Sanctions Against Tornado Cash Declared Illegal, TORN Surges Over 10 Times Before Retreating"

Traditional Market Makers Join the U.S. Market

At the Consensus Hong Kong 2025 conference a week ago, Wintermute CEO Evgeny Gaevoy stated in an interview with Bloomberg that the company's business expansion plans had changed, shifting focus from the Asian market to the U.S., and expressed hope that the U.S. would introduce favorable cryptocurrency regulatory policies.

On February 25, Bloomberg reported that traditional financial giant Citadel Securities, the largest market maker on the New York Stock Exchange with a market capitalization of $65 billion, plans to enter the cryptocurrency market-making sector, marking a significant shift from its previous cautious stance towards cryptocurrencies. The company has already planned to join the market maker lists of several trading platforms, including Coinbase Global, Binance, and Crypto.com, potentially initially establishing market-making teams outside the U.S.

Citadel Securities and Wintermute, one a traditional financial market maker and the other a long-established giant in the crypto field, will undoubtedly directly increase liquidity in the U.S. crypto market. Especially with the entry of traditional financial giant Citadel, it directly pushes the crypto market from a period of "barbaric growth" towards maturity, promoting comprehensive improvements in liquidity, trading efficiency, and regulatory compliance, while also indicating that as U.S. regulatory laws evolve, institutional confidence in the crypto industry continues to strengthen, and the U.S. crypto market may enter a new growth phase.

Related Reading: "Regulation Continues to Loosen, Are U.S. Crypto Market Makers Back?"

As Hayden Adams stated today, "I am pleased to see the new SEC leadership taking a more constructive attitude and look forward to working with Congress and regulators to develop truly applicable rules for DeFi—encouraging innovation, enhancing transparency and access to financial markets, allowing this technology to thrive in the U.S. rather than being forced overseas." With the continuous release of positive regulatory signals, the best era for DeFi may be approaching, and the U.S. may welcome a flourishing crypto spring.

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