It looks like smoother sailing for crypto exchange Kraken! The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has reportedly decided to drop its enforcement lawsuit against them. Kraken shared the news in a Monday announcement.

You might remember that the SEC initially took legal action against Kraken in November of last year. They accused the exchange of mixing customer funds with their own corporate money and operating as an unregistered securities player – broker, clearing agency, and dealer, to be exact. Instead of settling, Kraken chose to stand their ground and fight back. A federal judge actually agreed that the SEC had a case and should proceed to trial. However, now, pending the official nod from the SEC commissioners, Kraken says these charges are set to be dismissed “with prejudice.” This means it’s over for good, and importantly, Kraken says it involves “no admission of wrongdoing, no penalties paid and no changes to our business.”

This win for Kraken comes at a time when the SEC seems to be stepping back from some of its crypto enforcement efforts and investigations. This trend really picked up steam after former Chair Gary Gensler’s time. The current SEC leadership seems to be signaling a shift away from that “regulation by enforcement” approach that Gensler was known for. Instead, they’ve suggested they aim to create clearer guidelines for the crypto industry moving forward.

Kraken didn’t hold back their thoughts on the matter, stating in their Monday blog post: “The SEC’s decision to dismiss its lawsuit against us (and many others) is bigger than just a legal victory. It’s a real turning point for crypto in the U.S. It puts an end to what we saw as a wasteful and politically driven campaign, removes the cloud of uncertainty that was holding back innovation and investment, and really paves the way for a more stable and forward-thinking regulatory environment.”

Interestingly, the SEC had previously asked the courts to put pauses on their active cases against other major players like Binance and the Tron Foundation, along with their associated executives and companies.

While it looks like the SEC is dropping crypto cases left and right, it’s not a clean slate for everyone just yet. Some big names, like Ripple and Cumberland DRW (the crypto arm of trading giant DRW), are still in the thick of legal battles with the regulator. And while many SEC crypto investigations have been wrapped up without leading to charges – for example, probes into OpenSea, Gemini, Robinhood Crypto, and Uniswap – others are still ongoing. These include investigations into Crypto.com, Immutable, and Unicoin.