The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has dropped its investigation into Robinhood’s crypto arm, the company revealed Monday. Robinhood received a letter from the SEC’s Enforcement Division on Friday, stating in a blog post that the agency has closed its investigation into the crypto business with no intention of pursuing enforcement action. This news follows Coinbase’s recent announcement that the SEC has agreed to end its enforcement case against it.
Robinhood’s shares were up more than 1% in premarket trading. In May 2024, Robinhood had received a notice warning of potential securities law violations within its crypto unit after being subpoenaed for its cryptocurrency listings, custody, and platform operations. Dan Gallagher, the company’s chief legal, compliance, and corporate affairs officer, emphasized Robinhood’s commitment to regulatory clarity.
“Robinhood Crypto always has and will always respect federal securities laws and never allowed transactions in securities,” he said in a statement Monday. “We appreciate the formal closing of this investigation, and we are happy to see a return to the rule of law and commitment to fairness at the SEC.”
The dismissal of the Robinhood and Coinbase cases signals a regulatory shift for the crypto industry, as promised by President Donald Trump during his election campaign. Many crypto businesses viewed the previous administration’s approach as overly restrictive due to the SEC’s regulation-by-enforcement strategy under then-chair Gary Gensler.
Nearly half of Robinhood’s $672 million transaction-based revenue in the fourth quarter came from a 700% rise in revenue tied to crypto trading, as bitcoin rallied toward $100,000 for the first time ever on hopes of more favorable policies under Trump. Robinhood’s shares have gained 38% so far in 2025.
— news from CNBC