The main financial regulator in the US has dropped its investigation against a crypto exchange, adding further credence to the notion that there has been a seismic shift in the US's regulation of decentralised finance (DeFi).
The case involved the Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) and decentralised crypto exchange Uniswap Labs, an investigation that had lasted more than a year.
Uniswap was accused of operating as an unregistered broker exchange and clearing agency and of issuing unregistered securities.
The decision comes days after the SEC dismissed its case against another crypto exchange Coinbase as well as the crypto business of online share trading app Robinhood - both high-profile cases.
It is also another example of a change in the SEC's stance towards DeFi since the inauguration of Donald Trump as US president.
The SEC's previous head, Gary Gensler, was notably averse to crypto. For example, it was only when a court ruled in favour of numerous crypto firms that had sued the SEC, that the agency approved a number of crypto-linked investment funds, months and years after other countries had allowed such funds.
Gensler left his post following Trump's election victory and has been replaced by acting SEC head Mark Uyeda.
The decision to drop the case against Uniswap was understandably welcomed by its CEO Hayden Adams who also argued that there needs to be separate regulatory treatments for DeFi and traditional finance.
“This is a huge win—not just for Uniswap Labs but for DeFi as a whole," said Adams."It reaffirms what we’ve said all along: that decentralized technology and self-custody are inherently different from the centralized, intermediated systems they aim to replace.
"I appreciate that the new SEC leadership is taking a more cooperative stance, and I’m eager to work with Congress and regulators to develop policies that actually make sense for DeFi."
The decision led to a short-term rise in the trading volume of Uniswap's UNI Token. However, the price of BitCoin, still the most traded cryptocurrency in the world, has fallen to its lowest level in nearly four months and just weeks after it hit its all-time highest price as investors frety over the future direction of cryoptocurrencies and DeFi.