Did crypto firms ‘pay’ Trump for regulatory rollbacks? NYT thinks so…

U.S President Donald Trump and his family allegedly benefited from most of the dismissed or settled crypto cases, according to a New York Times (NYT) report. 

The dropped cases were reportedly attached to deals, in the form of political donations or business ties to the broader Trump family crypto empire. 

Trump’s pay-to-play?

According to the report, the Trump Administration dismissed 33% of Biden-era crypto cases, way more than the average of 4% seen in other industries. 

Out of the 14 crypto investigations that were rolled back, more than half of the defendants formed close ties with the administration. This happened either before or after the cases were resolved, NYT claimed.  

Coinbase, for example, had its lawsuit dismissed, but was one of the backers of Fairshake – A pro-crypto super PAC during the 2024/2025 cycle. It also formed Stand With Crypto, which collectively supports pro-crypto lawmakers in their efforts to win elections. 

In May, a civil SEC case against Binance for operating an unregistered exchange in the U.S was also dismissed. The founder, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), was pardoned months later – A move that sparked allegations of corruption. 

According to the NYT, the CZ and Binance cases were resolved after he helped Trump-backed World Liberty Financial develop and promote its USD1 stablecoin. 

“And just weeks before the Binance case was dismissed, the firm participated in a $2 billion business transaction that used digital currency from World Liberty. That deal is poised to generate tens of millions of dollars a year for the Trumps.”

A similar trend of ‘pay-to-play’ was reported across Consensys, Cumberland, Kraken, Tron, Ripple, and others. 

However, Hester M. Peirce has since defended the rollbacks, stating that “they shouldn’t have been filed in the first place.” She added, 

“I would say that the drastic action happened in the prior years, namely, bringing cases that we didn’t have a legal basis for.”

The Trump family’s crypto empire has grown significantly over the past year. In fact, it now includes BTC mining, DeFi lending, memecoins, and stablecoins, among others. However, his interest in the sector and the pro-crypto regulatory push have been met with scrutiny by Democrats.  

In fact, the conflict of interest almost derailed the stablecoin law (GENIUS Act) and resurfaced during the ongoing discussions on the crypto markets structure bill. 

Most of the cases were dismissed with prejudice (can’t be revisited by a new SEC regime). However, it remains to be seen whether regulatory headwinds will be an issue again if Democrats regain power in the future. 

Final Thoughts

• According to the NYT, the Trump family benefited from dismissed crypto cases. 
• However, Commissioner Peirce believes the cases didn’t have a legal basis in the first place.