• Robinhood says the SEC has ended the regulator’s probe into Robinhood Crypto.
• SEC issued a Wells Notice to Robinhood Crypto in May 2024.
• SEC’s closing of the Robinhood Crypto investigation comes days after the agency closed a similar probe against Opensea.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has dropped its investigation into Robinhood’s digital assets arm.

Robinhood announced via blog post on Monday, Feb. 24 that the SEC has closed its enforcement action probe against the company.

“We applaud the staff’s decision to close this investigation with no action,” said Dan Gallagher, chief legal officer of Robinhood Markets.

The SEC’s decision to end its investigation into Robinhood comes just days after another platform, Opensea, said the regulator was ending its probe.

Both Robinhood and Opensea received ‘Wells Notices’ from the SEC in 2024.

Last week, crypto exchange Coinbase also announced the regulator had agreed to dismiss the lawsuit it had filed against the US-based company in 2023.

SEC closes Robinhood probe

In the blog post on Monday, Robinhood said it received communication from the SEC’s Enforcement Division on Friday, Feb. 21.

The letter detailed the agency’s decision to end the investigation into Robinhood Crypto, with no further action. SEC’s Wells Notice alleged potential securities laws violations by the trading platform.

However, Robinhood maintained it had not violated any securities laws and did not offer securities to users.

“This investigation never should have been opened,” Gallagher added. “Robinhood Crypto always has and will always respect federal securities laws and never allowed transactions in securities. As we explained to the SEC, any case against Robinhood Crypto would have failed. We appreciate the formal closing of this investigation, and we are happy to see a return to the rule of law and commitment to fairness at the SEC.”

The SEChas taken a more pro-crypto innovation stance since the exit of former chair Gary Gensler. President Donald Trump’s appointment of pro-crypto individuals into positions at the agency has helped this shift, including the establishment of a crypto task force by acting chair Mark Uyeda.

• The SEC has received six XRP ETF applications over the last several weeks as interest in traditional crypto investment vehicles continues rising.
• Coinshares sent a proposal for XRP and Litecoin ETFs while Grayscale sent one for XRP amid several proposals for Solana ETFs.

The SEC has received no less than six applications for XRP exchange-traded funds from major issuers like Canary Capital, Grayscale, Bitwise, WisdomTree, 21Shares, and Coinshares.

The latest application, Grayscale, began the 21-day comment period on Friday where members of the public can submit feedback on the proposed ETF.

While this happens, five Solana ETF applications from 21Shares, Bitwise, Grayscale, VanEck, and Canary await a decision.

The rise of interest in ETFs

The recent swarm of ETF applications is emblematic of a shift in the regulatory landscape to a more friendly environment. This shift began at the twilight of Gary Gensler’s tenure with the approval of the Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs.

Now that Mark Uyeda, a pro-crypto official, is in office, combined with the most pro-crypto Congress the US has ever seen, the regulatory landscape is expected to be friendlier. Furthermore, Ripple Labs’ win against Gensler’s SEC has also placed it in a favourable growth position.

President Trump signed an executive order to create a sovereign wealth fund that will include cryptocurrencies. While Bitcoin is expected to be on the list, recent developments may place XRP in the fund as well.

In January, Trump met with Brad Garlinghouse, CEO of Ripple, who is pushing for the sovereign wealth fund to contain more than one cryptocurrency, ideally XRP as well.

Some thoughts on maximalism… let me say this as clearly as I can – the crypto industry has a real shot, here and now, to achieve the many goals we have in common, IF we work together instead of tearing each other down. This is not, and never will be, a zero-sum game.

• I own…

— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) January 27, 2025

An XRP ETF approval could cement the crypto as a candidate for the reserve.

Ripple is the third largest crypto by market cap and trades at $2.48 as of publishing.

Utah continues to make strides in its quest to create a strategic Bitcoin (BTC) reserve, as the state’s Blockchain and Digital Innovation Amendments bill – also known as H.B. 230 – cleared its first reading in the Senate yesterday, and has now moved to the Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee for further consideration.

Utah Bitcoin Reserve Bill Passes First Reading In Senate

In a major development that could strengthen Bitcoin’s position as a mainstream store of value, Utah’s H.B. 230 bill has successfully cleared its first reading in the state Senate. According to the official bill tracker, the proposal has now advanced to the Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee, where it will undergo further review before potentially moving to the next stage of the legislative process.

To recall, Utah Representative Jordan Teuscher introduced H.B. 230 on January 21. The bill passed the House in the same month with an 8-1 vote before proceeding to the Senate for its first reading on February 7. 

If enacted, the bill would authorize the state treasurer to allocate up to 5% of public funds for investment in “qualifying digital assets.” According to the bill’s criteria, these assets must have maintained a market capitalization of more than $500 billion over the past 12 months and must not be a stablecoin.

Under these strict requirements, Bitcoin is currently the only asset that qualifies. The leading cryptocurrency commands a total market cap of over $1.9 trillion, whereas Ethereum (ETH), the second-largest digital asset by market capitalization, stands at approximately $327 billion, falling short of the proposed $500 billion threshold. 

If the bill is enacted, it is expected to go into effect on May 7. Commenting on the legislation’s development, Teuscher wrote in a recent X post:

Thrilled to join with @Dennis_Porter_ to announce HB230 which will allow the state to invest in digital assets. While Utah is the 11th state to introduce similar legislation, we will be the first to pass it. Utah continues to lead the nation in blockchain and digital innovation!

Various States Working Toward BTC Adoption

Teuscher’s statement reflects the broader movement among several US states to incorporate Bitcoin into their financial strategies. Utah is not alone in considering Bitcoin reserves, as more than 25 different states have introduced similar legislative measures aimed at creating a strategic Bitcoin reserve.

In May 2024, New Hampshire State Representative Keith Ammon proposed diversifying the state’s financial reserves by investing in Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Later in October, Florida’s Chief Financial Officer, Jimmy Patronis, urged the state’s pension fund managers to explore Bitcoin investments as part of a broader strategy to strengthen financial resilience.

Similar bills have been introduced in other states, including Alabama, Massachusetts, South Dakota, Ohio, and Oklahoma. At press time, BTC trades at $96,075, up 0.6% in the past 24 hours.

Featured Image from Unsplash.com, Charts from Bitcoinlaws and TradingView.com