SEC has closed its investigation against Web3 gaming platform Immutable and its token IMX

What’s new? The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has dropped its investigation into Web3 gaming platform Immutable and declined to take enforcement action against it. Australia-based Immutable received a Wells notice from the SEC last November in connection with the listing and private sale of the IMX native token in 2021.

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What else is known? The regulator sends a Wells notice to companies when it finds violations of securities laws, signaling a willingness to go to court. In addition to Immutable itself, CEO James Ferguson and the Digital Worlds Foundation, a non-profit organization that supports the Immutable ecosystem and was involved in the launch of IMX, received such letters.

The accusations were related to the initial coin offering (ICO) in 2021 that allowed the project to raise $12,5 million through IMX’s tokensale on the CoinList launchpad. This platform allows traders to access new cryptocurrencies before they start being listed on exchanges.

“We are pleased the SEC has concluded its inquiry. This marks a significant milestone for the crypto industry and gaming as we advance towards a future with regulatory clarity,” said Robbie Ferguson, Immutable’s co-founder and president.

He added that the firm is “excited” about the rise of regulatory clarity in the United States, and with a clear regulatory framework, the company is able to grow its audience to 3,1 billion.

The IMX native token ranks 80th in the overall cryptocurrency market capitalization ranking with over $1,2 billion in market cap and is trading at $0,6752, having added 7% overnight. The last two weeks have seen a 15% increase, but the asset has lost 79% of its value over the year.

This SEC decision on IMX comes in a string of closed investigations and dismissed litigation that began after the Donald Trump administration took office and key figures at the commission were replaced.

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Under the leadership of Acting Chairman Mark Uyeda, the SEC signaled a complete overhaul of its cryptocurrency regulatory strategy and launched a task force led by crypto attorney Hester Peirce, kicking off a series of roundtables with the industry.

In less than three months, the SEC dropped investigations into crypto exchange Gemini, broker Robinhood, NFT marketplace OpenSea, and NFT project Yuga Labs without charges.

Litigation against crypto exchanges Kraken and Coinbase, MetaMask wallet developer ConsenSys, fintech company Ripple, and market maker Cumberland DRW was also dismissed.

More litigation, including cases against the Binance exchange and the TRON blockchain, has been put on hold.

However, not everyone who received the Wells notice has finalized proceedings with the SEC. For example, the Crypto.com exchange received it last year, after which it itself sued the agency and then-chairman Gary Gensler for abuse of authority. It later withdrew the lawsuit, but has not publicly commented further on the status of the SEC’s investigation.