Dragonchain soars 97% as SEC moves to drop long-standing lawsuit
The post Dragonchain soars 97% as SEC moves to drop long-standing lawsuit appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.
Dragonchain’s DRGN rallied over 97% after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said it plans to dismiss its long-running lawsuit against the project over alleged unregistered securities sales. According to a joint filing on April 24, the SEC and Dragonchain have agreed the case should be dismissed with prejudice, meaning it can’t be refiled. The SEC cited the work of its newly established Crypto Task Force and said dropping the suit was the appropriate step. The lawsuit, originally filed in August 2022, accused Dragonchain, its foundation, and founder Joseph Roets of raising $16.5 million through an unregistered token sale. The commission’s case centred on a 2017 presale and ICO that raised $14 million through DRGN tokens, with an additional $2.5 million sold between 2019 and 2022 to fund business operations and tech development. At the time, the regulator argued DRGN qualified as an investment contract and should have been registered under securities laws. The case, however, was paused in October 2024 after Dragonchain submitted a settlement offer and was later extended in January, following a major executive order from President Trump that called for the U.S. to take a leading role in digital assets. The order prompted a broader reassessment of how cryptocurrency is regulated in the U.S., and the SEC cited this shift in approach when deciding to withdraw from the Dragonchain lawsuit. In fact, the SEC’s newly formed Crypto Task Force, established the day after Trump returned to office, met with Dragonchain representatives on March 24. According to an internal agency memo, the discussion centred on how the SEC should approach crypto regulation, with a focus on blockchain’s non-financial applications. Dragonchain’s team, led by founder Joe Roets, argued that blockchain should be seen as foundational software, used for transparency, identity management, and automation, rather than purely as a…
