Today in crypto, Dubai tells crypto exchange KuCoin to halt operations in the emirate until it acquires the appropriate licensing, and the US Securities and Exchange Commission settled its lawsuit against Justin Sun, and separately submitted a regulatory proposal to the White House that could change how it enforces securities laws over crypto.
Dubai regulator orders KuCoin entities to stop unlicensed operations
Dubai’s digital asset regulator has instructed entities behind crypto exchange KuCoin to halt unlicensed virtual asset services in the emirate, warning investors that the platform is not authorized to serve Dubai residents.
In a Thursday investor and marketplace alert, the Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) said that Phoenixfin Pte Ltd, MEK Global Limited, Peken Global Limited and Kucoin Exchange EU GmbH, all commercially advertising as KuCoin, may be providing virtual asset activities to Dubai residents, “without the necessary regulatory approvals and misrepresenting its licensing status.”
VARA said the group had been instructed to cease and desist from all unlicensed digital asset activities and stressed that KuCoin did “not hold any licence to provide Virtual Asset services in/from Dubai.”
The watchdog added that any virtual asset activities advertised or conducted by the entities were in breach of VARA regulations and wider United Arab Emirates legislation, including Dubai Law No. 4 of 2022 and Cabinet Resolution No. 111/2022, which require all virtual asset service providers to be licensed to operate legally.
SEC ends case against Justin Sun with $10 million settlement
The US Securities and Exchange Commission ended its lawsuit against crypto entrepreneur Justin Sun with a $10 million settlement on Thursday, wrapping up its three-year legal battle over alleged fraud and securities laws violations.
The SEC told a Manhattan federal court that Rainberry, one of Sun’s companies, would pay a $10 million fine, while claims against Sun and his companies, the Tron Foundation and BitTorrent Foundation, would be dropped. Sun and his companies did not admit or deny the SEC’s allegations.
The SEC sued Sun and the three companies in March 2023, accusing them of selling unregistered securities via the Tronix (TRX) and BitTorrent (BTT) tokens and engaging in “manipulative wash trading” of TRX. The agency also claimed they paid celebrities to promote the tokens “without disclosing their compensation.”
Sun refuted the allegations at the time. Later, after Donald Trump was sworn in as president in January 2025, Sun amassed a $75 million stake in the Trump family’s crypto project World Liberty Financial. The SEC and Sun asked the court to pause the case to allow for settlement talks a month later.
Sun said in an X post after the SEC filed its settlement letter that “today’s resolution brings closure,” and he looked forward to “working with the SEC to develop guidance and regulations for crypto going forward.”
SEC proposes “token taxonomy” for interpreting crypto under securities laws
Officials at the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) submitted a regulatory proposal to the White House with the potential to change how the government handles enforcement of federal securities laws over cryptocurrencies.
In a Tuesday submission to the White House’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, the SEC sent a “commission interpretation on application of the federal securities laws to certain types of crypto assets and certain transactions involving crypto assets.”
The move reportedly marked interpretative guidance around “token taxonomy” for cryptocurrencies, determining which tokens may be considered securities under the SEC’s purview.
