Senior Associate

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has formally closed its investigation into Australian web3 gaming firm Immutable, the company announced on March 25.Immutable, known for its Ethereum-based gaming infrastructure and native IMX token, revealed that it had received a Wells notice from the SEC in November 2024 — an indication that the agency was considering enforcement action.The company believed the inquiry was related to its token’s listing and early sales, which date back to 2021. With the investigation now dropped and no charges filed, Immutable called the decision a step forward for regulatory clarity in the blockchain gaming sector.Immutable, which aims to bring blockchain-based ownership to the global gaming market, said it plans to accelerate its expansion now that the regulatory uncertainty has been lifted.String of closuresThe case’s closure adds to a growing list of enforcement efforts withdrawn or halted under the SEC’s acting chair, Mark Uyeda.Since taking the helm in January, Uyeda has overseen the dissolution of several high-profile probes as the agency distances itself from the aggressive enforcement strategy employed during Gary Gensler’s tenure.In recent weeks, investigations into other major crypto companies — including Gemini, Robinhood, OpenSea, and Yuga Labs — have also been closed. Meanwhile, legal actions involving firms such as Coinbase, Ripple, and Kraken have been dismissed or paused.The SEC has also established a new Crypto Task Force led by Commissioner Hester Peirce, a longtime advocate for clearer crypto guidelines.The initiative is part of a broader effort to engage with industry stakeholders and craft formal rulemaking rather than relying on enforcement as a primary tool.Task forceSince its launch in January, the Crypto Task Force has taken a more collaborative and transparent approach to crypto regulation.The task force has hosted a series of public roundtables addressing core issues such as digital asset classification, crypto trading platforms, custody solutions, tokenization, and decentralized finance.It has also actively sought public input from industry stakeholders, including a formal submission from Ripple advocating for clear, predictable criteria to determine whether a digital asset qualifies as a security.The task force’s efforts signal a broader shift toward structured rulemaking aimed at providing regulatory clarity while supporting innovation in the digital asset space.The SEC’s evolving posture comes amid a wider re-evaluation of crypto oversight in Washington, fueled in part by policy shifts under the Trump administration.Mentioned in this article

Dogecoin (DOGE) is up 14.5% on the week, regaining ground amid a broader meme coin rally fueled by investors’ renewed appetite for risk-on assets. They have sent the meme coin category up 11% according to data provider CoinGecko, with other top tokens by market value Pepe and Shiba Inu rising more than 10% to claw back some losses and newer, popular tokens, SPX6900 and FARTCOIN, skyrocketing 70% and 104%, respectively over the last seven days. The surge has left meme coin proponents feeling more buoyant after a weeks-long slump, although other observers of the space believe that the tokens’ future is uncertain. They expect the meme coins, which reference pop culture and news events and are more volatile than other tokens, to change, and that investors will have to adapt.  “I don’t think that you’re going to be able to consistently launch 30,000 tokens a day and think that there’s going to be this kind of crazy community of people or new people onboarded because of that,” said Joe McCann, founder of crypto fund Asymmetric, on the Unchained podcast. “There’s going to be some new implementation or innovation or iteration of what meme coins actually look like, and so that trade opportunity is what you should be looking for.” The total meme coin market cap has fallen to $58.7 billion according to CoinGecko. By comparison, dog-themed tokens, like DOGE and Shiba Inu, alone represented more than a $103 billion market cap on December 7. Yet meme coin analyzer Murad Mahmudov believes the category has huge potential, largely because it has yet to draw wider-spread awareness. “99.99% of people haven’t heard about SPX6900 yet,” posted crypto trader and meme coin analyzer Murad Mahmudov on X (formerly Twitter). “It will be everywhere. With the whole world wanting to join in

The US Senate is preparing to hold a final vote on March 27 to nullify the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) broker reporting rule for DeFi operators.If approved, the resolution could be sent to President Donald Trump’s desk as early as March 28 for signing, according to Fox reporter Eleanor Terrett reported on March 25, citing three people familiar with the matter.The vote follows a procedural requirement after the Senate passed the same joint resolution in a bipartisan supermajority on March 4. 292 lawmakers voted to overturn the broker rule, while 132 opposed it.The broker rule, finalized by the IRS in December 2023, aimed to broaden tax reporting obligations by redefining “brokers” to include digital asset platforms, including DeFi front-end interfaces.Under the regulation, entities classified as brokers would be responsible for implementing Know Your Customer (KYC) standards, monitoring user activity, and reporting transaction data to the IRS.Community pushbackThe rule was introduced as part of the former President Joe Biden administration’s broader strategy to close tax gaps associated with crypto transactions and enhance visibility into blockchain-based financial activity.Since its introduction, the IRS rule has been the focus of industry opposition, with developers and advocates warning that DeFi infrastructure cannot feasibly comply with broker-level surveillance and reporting requirements.In December, the decision prompted a joint lawsuit by the Blockchain Association, the DeFi Education Fund, and the Texas Blockchain Council challenging the rulemaking. The entities said that the rule “risks crippling the US digital asset sector.”Blockchain Association’s head of legal, Marisa Coppel, said amid the lawsuit that the Treasury has gone beyond its statutory authority in expanding the definition of “broker” to include providers of DeFi trading front-ends. She added that these interfaces do not affect transactions.Additionally, critics have highlighted that DeFi protocols lack centralized control or custodial authority over user funds, rendering the expansion of the broker rule useless.If Trump signs, the rule will be formally repealed, removing the expanded definition of brokers from IRS enforcement policy.Mentioned in this article