Cronos (CRO), the native token of crypto exchange Crypto.com, rallied more than 10% on Thursday after announcing that the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) has dropped its investigation into the company.
Crypto.com stated in a press release that the SEC has ended investigating its business with no intention of pursuing legal actions.
This marks another win for the crypto industry under the new SEC administration — which has scaled down enforcement actions against digital asset companies.
"We are pleased that the current SEC leadership has made the decision to close its investigation into Crypto.com with no enforcement action or settlement," said Nick Lundgren, Chief Legal Officer of Crypto.com, in the press release.
The SEC issued a Wells notice to Crypto.com last August, indicating it intends to pursue legal actions against the company. The exchange responded by suing the agency for regulatory overreach.
However, Crypto.com voluntarily withdrew its case against the SEC in December following a meeting with President Donald Trump before his inauguration.
The latest announcement follows President Trump's media company, Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), disclosing a partnership with Crypto.com on Monday. The firm signed a non-binding agreement to partner with the exchange to launch its own exchange-traded funds (ETFs), with Crypto.com as the official token supplier.
CRO rallied more than 10% following the announcement, stretching its weekly gains above 40%.
Meanwhile, on-chain investigator ZachXBT accused Crypto.com of token manipulation on Monday, stating that the exchange planned to reissue 70 billion CRO tokens removed from circulation in 2021.
Critics claimed the move compromises the fundamental values of decentralization and transparency in the crypto space.