The New York Times questions: Did crypto companies exchange favors with Trump for relaxed regulations?

The New York Times recently published an investigation reporting that U.S. President Donald Trump and his family may have benefited from multiple revoked or settled cryptocurrency regulatory cases, sparking widespread controversy over “power-money deals.” The report directly points out that some crypto companies established political or business connections with Trump’s camp before and after their cases were dismissed.

Data shows that since taking office, approximately 33% of enforcement cases related to cryptocurrencies were dismissed, significantly higher than the average of about 4% in other industries. Among the 14 dismissed crypto investigations, over half of the involved companies or individuals were found to have direct or indirect associations with the Trump administration.

For example, the report mentions that after the lawsuit against the United States’ largest compliant CEX was dismissed, the company was found to be a major funder of the super PAC Fairshake, which supports crypto-friendly candidates, and promoted political initiatives such as “Stand With Crypto.” Similar controversies also appeared with another mainstream CEX. In May this year, the SEC’s civil lawsuit against this CEX was withdrawn, and its founder CZ subsequently received a pardon, raising questions about corruption and interests trading.

The New York Times pointed out that, weeks before the cases were dismissed, the platform participated in a $2 billion transaction using Trump-supported World Liberty Financial stablecoin, a project expected to generate tens of millions of dollars annually for Trump’s family. A similar “paid participation” model is also alleged to exist in cases involving Consensys, Ripple, Tron, and others.

However, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce defended the case dismissals, stating that many lawsuits lacked legal basis and were excessive law enforcement by the previous administration. Meanwhile, the Trump family’s crypto ventures have rapidly expanded over the past year to include mining, DeFi, meme coins, and stablecoins, continuing to draw Democratic concerns over potential conflicts of interest.

Although most cases cannot be retried, the market generally remains concerned that if political power changes again in the future, the crypto industry might face stricter regulatory environments.