Uniswap’s 3-year long SEC battle ends—Here’s what comes next

• UNI has achieved regulatory clarity after the SEC closed its investigation. 
• One of the largest whale cohorts accumulated 10M UNI after the update. 

The new U.S. SEC has officially closed its investigation against Unsiwap[UNI] Labs and plans no further enforcement action. 

Last April, the previous SEC served the firm behind popular Uniswap DEX with a Wells Notice, claiming it operated an unregistered security exchange and security (UNI token).

A win for DeFi?

Fast-forward to February 2025, Uniswap Labs has been vindicated under the new administration. The firm termed it a ‘win for DeFi,’  

“The conclusion of our investigation is…a relief for Uniswap Labs, but also for the broader DeFi community of builders, users, and developers working toward a better financial system for all of us.”

For his part, Hayden Adams, founder of Uniswap Labs, regretted that the investigation wasted three years but was optimistic for DeFi under the new leadership.

He stated, 

“I’m grateful that the new SEC leadership is taking a more constructive approach, and I look forward to working with Congress and regulators to help create rules that actually make sense for DeFi” 

Similarly, Kristin Smith, CEO of the Blockchain Association, a collective lobby for the industry, praised it as a win for ‘all crypto’ and the end of regulation by enforcement. 

“The era of regulation by enforcement – and intimidation – is coming to an end, thanks to a fresh perspective at the SEC.”

Uniswap is the third crypto firm to have a previous lawsuit dismissed by the new SEC, after Coinbase and Robinhood. 

UNI reaction

UNI bounced 12% after the update, but wasn’t back to the tight $9-$10 price range seen in early February. Besides, it was below the trendline resistance, suggesting bears were still in control as of this writing. 

Source: UNI/USDT, TradingView

Meanwhile, the regulatory clarity on UNI also saw the largest whale cohort (with 10M -100M UNI) scoop an extra 10M UNI tokens on 25th February.

Despite offloading from the 1M-10M whale cohort, the larger whale accumulation could signal a likely recovery for the token if broader sentiment improved. 

Source: Santiment