Uniswap Founder: SEC Probe Consumed Significant Resources for Over 3 Years, All Charges Now Dropped

On February 26th, Hayden Adams, the founder of Uniswap, announced that the "U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC, under the leadership of the previous administration) had made attempts to accuse Uniswap Labs of operating an unregistered broker-dealer, exchange, and clearing agency, and issuing unregistered securities. Now, these accusations have been withdrawn. Uniswap Labs is not a broker-dealer. The Uniswap protocol is not an unregistered exchange or clearing agency, and it is not operated by Labs. UNI is not a security. The SEC investigated us without a clear legal basis, as a form of selective enforcement strategy, trying to forcefully fit DeFi into an inapplicable regulatory framework while refusing to provide clear rules or compliance pathways. This investigation lasted for more than 3 years, forcing us to waste a significant amount of time and millions of dollars. It also had personal impacts - the federal investigation is highly intrusive and stressful. In the legal world, there is a saying: "The investigation itself is the punishment." This should not be the cost of American innovation. This outcome once again proves our long-held belief: decentralized technology and self-custodied funds are fundamentally different from the centralized intermediary systems they aim to replace. We are pleased to see the new SEC leadership adopting a more constructive attitude and look forward to working with Congress and regulatory agencies to develop rules truly applicable to DeFi - encouraging innovation, enhancing transparency and financial market access, and allowing this technology to thrive in the United States instead of being forced overseas. The best era of DeFi is approaching."