On March 5, 2026, Justin Sun reached a $10 million settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), resolving civil fraud charges against him. The US regulator had alleged that Sun made illegal transactions worth $31 million and did not disclose the promotions he made with famous names. The case is expected to be closed after the agreement is submitted for court approval.
Softening in Regulations and Its Effects on the Sector
On the same day, US banking authorities announced that banks would not be subject to additional capital requirements for tokenized securities that are different from traditional assets. This approach was interpreted as the removal of another regulatory wall for the crypto industry.
In the last year under the administration of US President Donald Trump, it has been observed that legal pressures on many important crypto actors have been eased. In May 2025, the SEC decided to “close” its civil lawsuit against Binance, and former CEO Changpeng Zhao was spared criminal sanctions thanks to Trump’s amnesty in October 2025. Zhao had previously been convicted of money laundering and received a short prison sentence.
At least 12 crypto-related cases have been closed since the beginning of 2025, a letter from US House Democrats claimed. Attention was drawn to data showing that crypto projects close to Trump generated significant income during this period.
The Rise of Cryptostructures Associated with the Trump Family
Reuters calculated that the Trump Organization’s revenue reached $802 million in the first half of 2025. The majority of this revenue was generated from token sales conducted by World Liberty Financial. In the revenue model of the company in question, 75 percent of the income from token sales is transferred to an entity affiliated with the Trump family, after operational expenses are deducted.
The stablecoin USD1, launched by World Liberty in March 2025, offered an additional source of income with secured reserve income. Reaching a circulation of approximately $4.4 billion as of February 2026, USD1 became the sixth largest stablecoin in the market. Especially with MGX’s two billion dollar investment in Binance, it was reported that a large portion of this stablecoin was accumulated in a single wallet in the early period.
Justin Sun became one of the most important investors by purchasing at least $ 75 million in the World Liberty token pre-sale and joined the company’s advisors. It was also reported that Sun was active in the TRUMP-themed memecoin ecosystem, and wallets claimed to belong to Sun made HTX-related transactions.
Legal Developments and Market Dynamics
The recently implemented more moderate regulatory policy has affected not only individual projects but the entire US crypto market. In particular, findings published by the Bank for International Settlements in February 2026 that on-chain stablecoin transactions have a direct impact on the yield of public bonds were mentioned. The European Central Bank, on the other hand, put forward examples of the effects of stablecoins on bank deposits.
Banks’ opposition to stablecoins and ethical debates are seen as the main obstacles to the advancement of new legislative proposals in the USA. It was stated that despite the improvements in legal processes, Trump-related initiatives may face legal and reputational risks in the long term.
SEC Chairman Paul Atkins said in February 2026 that the agency had increased staffing and, in response to allegations that crypto cases were being closed due to political influence, noted that most decisions were made before he took office. It was stated that the softening of the US regulatory approach differs from the models in different countries such as the United Kingdom.
