Bittrex is trying to claw back a $24 million SEC settlement after a shift in SEC crypto regulation weakened the case behind it.
Closed cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex is seeking to vacate a 2023 ruling by a federal court in Seattle involving the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
As reported by Law360, the exchange claims the regulatory playbook of the SEC when it comes to cryptocurrencies has been altered since the return of Donald Trump to power, and thus, the original case is now irrelevant to the current regulatory environment.
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The SEC sued Bittrex in April 2023, accusing the platform and its former CEO, William Shihara, of operating an “unregistered national securities exchange, broker, and clearing agency.” Bittrex settled later that year without admitting or denying the allegations.
Old Settlement Back in Court
In March, the SEC moved to transfer the Bittrex settlement funds to the U.S. Treasury. But as Bloomberg Law reported, the SEC said it couldn’t reliably identify harmed investors, making a direct distribution difficult.
That transfer has since been paused and in an April 9 order, the court stayed briefing on the SEC’s motion to transfer the funds until after the Supreme Court rules in Sripetch v. SEC, a case that could affect how the regulator handles money collected through enforcement actions.
Bittrex is now asking the judge to cancel the 2023 judgment and order the SEC to return the $24 million before the money is sent somewhere else.
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