SEC drops MetaMask case, but Ripple lawsuit remains in limbo – What’s next for crypto?

• SEC dismissed Coinbase’s lawsuit and dropped MetaMask investigation. 
• A policy watcher said Ripple’s case was ‘complicated’ and would take time. 

On the 27th of February, the U.S. SEC commissioners approved the dismissal of the Coinbase exchange lawsuit.

Additionally, the lawsuit was dismissed ‘with prejudice,’ meaning a new administration can’t bring it back.  

This wasn’t surprising, given that Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong revealed that the case dismissal was likely last week.

Now, the Trump-era SEC has dismissed or dropped crypto lawsuits against OpenSea, Robinhood, Unsiwap[UNI], Gemini, and Coinbase.

What’s up with Ripple?

The Metamask lawsuit was also dropped on Thursday, pending SEC commissioners’ approval. Joseph Lubin, CEO of Consensys, the firm behind Metamask, stated, 

“I’m pleased to announce that Consensys and the SEC have agreed in principle that the securities enforcement case concerning MetaMask should be dismissed.” 

Like Coinbase, the previous SEC regime claimed that the Ethereum-based wallet Metamask offered unregistered securities and operated as an unregistered broker-dealer. 

February has been busy for the agency; it also paused lawsuits against Binance, Justin Sun, and the TRON [TRX] Foundation. However, Ripple Labs conspicuously missed these updates. So, what’s next?

According to crypto lawyer Jeremy Hogan, the Ripple lawsuit was ‘complicated’ as it had advanced to judgment and appeal stages. He said, 

“Ripple is still a more complicated a case to resolve because of the judgment. The Tron case wasn’t nearly as far along. That’s right – first in, last out.”

Nevertheless, Ripple’s leadership was ‘hopeful’ the case would be resolved in 2025. In an X Spaces in late January, Ripple CLO Stuart Alderoty said,

“I believe the new SEC understands that, and I remain cautiously optimistic that at some point during 2025, the case will be voluntarily withdrawn.”