SEC Commissioner: The SEC's withdrawal of civil enforcement litigation against a certain CEX does not mean it is giving up enforcement

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Commissioner Hester M. Peirce has issued a statement announcing that the SEC has formally withdrawn its civil enforcement lawsuit against CEX, indicating no further action will be taken on this case. Peirce explicitly stated she never supported the case and criticized the SEC's previous reliance on enforcement actions to regulate the crypto industry, arguing it harmed public interest in America, hindered industry development, and obstructed normal functions of the SEC's policy team. She pointed out that broad application of Howey Test by SEC led to regulatory ambiguity making it difficult for compliant businesses to operate while lawbreakers exploited these grey areas to evade legal responsibilities. Furthermore, due to lack of clear regulatory framework many crypto companies were forced to spend significant resources on legal responses rather than product innovation. She believes that not only did previous policy-making through enforcement mislead the industry but also prevented effective participation from policy teams in rule-making process. She emphasized that currently an "Crypto Task Force" has been established by SEC granting leading authority to policy teams working with public in formulating a regulatory framework suitable for crypto industry.This withdrawal does not mean that SEC is giving up enforcement but indicates future regulation will focus more on policy formulation rather than solely relying on enforcement actions.