Crypto exchange Uniswap Labs has announced that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has dropped its three-year investigation into the firm.
The SEC had been investigating Uniswap for allegations of operating as an unregistered broker exchange and clearing agency, as well as issuing unregistered securities. However, the investigation has now been concluded, as revealed by Uniswap CEO Hayden Adams on X.
Adams posted: “The SEC (under the previous admin) tried to claim that Uniswap Labs operated an unregistered broker, exchange, and clearing agency, and issued an unregistered security. Those claims have now been dropped. Uniswap Labs is not a broker. The Uniswap Protocol is not an unregistered exchange or clearing agency or operated by Labs. UNI is not a security.”
The term “under the previous admin” carries weight at the moment in the US crypto space, highlighting a change in leadership at the SEC. Gary Gensler, the former SEC Chair, faced criticism from the crypto sector for over-regulating, a belief Adams shares, and resigned shortly after President Donald Trump’s reelection.
“They [the SEC] went after us despite having no clear legal basis, as part of a strategy of arbitrary enforcement to try to force DeFi into a regulatory framework that doesn’t fit – while refusing to provide clear rules or a path to compliance,” Adams continued.
“This investigation took over three years, forcing us to waste incredible amounts of time and millions of dollars. It also had a personal impact – federal investigations are violating and stressful to the point where there is a saying among lawyers that ‘the investigation IS the punishment.’ That shouldn’t be the price of innovation in the US.”
Adams views this as a significant win, not just for Uniswap, but for DeFi as a whole. He stressed that decentralised technology and self-custody are fundamentally different from the centralised systems they aim to replace.
He further explained that self-custodied funds, with self-executing code running on public blockchains, offer greater transparency in financial markets. He argued: “Slapping regulations aimed at centralised, opaque TradFi markets on top of DeFi simply does not work.”
This sentiment aligns with Robinhood’s perspective, which saw its case dismissed by the SEC earlier this week. Robinhood also criticised the previous SEC administration for enforcing regulations through actions rather than creating clear, explicit regulations.
Coinbase, another exchange often facing enforcement actions, also had its investigation dropped by the SEC earlier this month. The company echoed these points and called for a new approach to crypto regulation.
“I’m grateful that the new SEC leadership is taking a more constructive approach, and I look forward to working with Congress and regulators to help create rules that actually make sense for DeFi – encouraging innovation, improving transparency and access to financial markets, and ensuring that this technology can thrive in the US, instead of being pushed offshore,” concluded Adams.
“The best days for DeFi are ahead.”
