The senator highlighted dismissals involving Kraken, Coinbase, and Gemini, each of which donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration before seeing their cases dropped.
She also pointed to Binance, whose case was dismissed after a $2 billion deal involving the USD1 stablecoin tied to the Trump family.
Warren further noted that the agency released three convicted fraudsters, Devon Archer, Carlos Watson, and Trevor Milton, after each received clemency from the president. Milton donated $1.8 million to a Trump campaign fund prior to his pardon.
In response, Atkins rejected Warren’s accusations and defended the SEC’s approach. He argued that several cases were dropped before he took office and did not reflect weakened enforcement.
“Seven of the nine crypto litigation dismissals were because of those registration issues,” Atkins said, adding that the commission has opened roughly five new crypto-related cases since the current administration took office.
The SEC chief insisted that his agency remains active in pursuing misconduct, including in the crypto sector.
The SEC’s decision to drop a number of high-profile crypto cases has drawn scrutiny from members of Congress.
During a House Financial Services Committee hearing on Wednesday, Atkins came under fire from Democratic lawmakers who accused the SEC of ignoring Trump-linked crypto scams and undermining trust in the digital asset sector.
Representative Maxine Waters also pressed Atkins over the indefinite pause of the agency’s lawsuit against Tron founder Justin Sun. The SEC chair declined to comment on Sun and other cases.
cryptobriefing.com
