TLDR
- SEC has officially closed its investigation into Immutable with no enforcement actions
- IMX token surged 15% following the announcement, reaching highest price since early March
- Immutable co-founder Robbie Ferguson called it “an enormous win for Web3 gaming”
- This is part of a broader SEC retreat from aggressive crypto enforcement under new leadership
- The decision adds to growing regulatory clarity for the crypto gaming industry
The End of a Year-Long Battle
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has officially closed its investigation into Web3 gaming platform Immutable and will not pursue enforcement charges. The Australian company announced the news on Tuesday, March 25. This decision ends a probe that began with a Wells notice issued to the company last year.
Immutable’s native token IMX responded positively to the news. It surged approximately 15% following the announcement. The price reached just under $0.74, its highest level since March 3.
Market Response and Context
The price jump represents a welcome change for IMX holders. The token had previously fallen to $0.46 on March 11 during a broader market decline. This downturn was driven by uncertainty over U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs and interest rates.
At the time of publication, IMX had settled back to around $0.67. A move back toward $0.70 would eliminate approximately $449,500 in short positions, according to data from CoinGlass.
It’s worth noting that when Immutable first received the Wells notice in November, the token price barely moved. However, at that time, the broader crypto market was gaining momentum as Trump’s election chances looked strong.
Several other gaming tokens have also seen gains over the past 24 hours. Gala rose 2.78%. The Sandbox increased 3.78%. FLOKI gained 1.91%. Axie Infinity went up 1.50%.
IMX’s all-time high was $9.32, reached in November 2021 during a major rally in gaming tokens. The current price remains well below that peak. Over the past 30 days, the total market cap of gaming tokens has dropped 3.65% to $13.13 billion.
Trading volume for gaming tokens has decreased even more sharply. It fell 33.45% to $1.75 billion during the same period.
A Shifting Regulatory Landscape
Robbie Ferguson, Immutable’s co-founder and president, celebrated the SEC’s decision. In a statement, he called it “a milestone for the crypto industry and gaming as we advance towards a future with regulatory clarity.”
Ferguson went even further on social media. In a March 25 post on X, he described the dropped investigation as “an enormous win for Web3 gaming.” He added, “After a year of fighting, this threat to digital ownership rights has finally been put to rest.”
The SEC has now officially dropped its inquiry into Immutable, with no enforcement action to be taken.
This is an enormous win for web3 gaming – after a year of fighting, this threat to digital ownership rights has finally been put to rest.
We’re excited to build.
— Robbie Ferguson | Immutable (@0xferg) March 25, 2025
The Wells notice, received in November, was essentially an official warning. It signaled that the SEC intended to file an enforcement action against Immutable. At the time, the company believed the investigation was related to its listing and private sales of the IMX token in 2021.
Ferguson expressed enthusiasm about the developing regulatory environment. He stated that “with a clear regulatory framework, we plan to accelerate our ambitions to bring digital ownership to the 3.1 billion gamers in the world.”
The SEC has declined to comment on the matter. When contacted, the agency stated that it “does not comment on the existence or nonexistence of a possible investigation.”
The decision to end the Immutable investigation is part of a broader shift in SEC policy. Under Acting Chair Mark Uyeda, the agency has moved away from the “regulation by enforcement” approach of former Chair Gary Gensler.
This regulatory sea change began after President Donald Trump took office. In less than three months, the SEC has dropped investigations into several crypto companies. These include crypto exchange Gemini, trading platform Robinhood, NFT marketplace OpenSea, and NFT company Yuga Labs.
The agency has also ended litigation against Kraken, Coinbase, ConsenSys, Ripple, and Cumberland DRW. Cases against Tron and Binance have been paused.
However, not all companies that received Wells notices have been cleared. Crypto issuer Unicoin remains under SEC review. A spokesperson for the company stated they are “in the final stages of the SEC review process” but have not received any formal updates.
Crypto.com also received a Wells notice last year. The company subsequently sued the SEC and then-Chair Gensler, accusing the regulator of “unlawfully expanding its jurisdiction.” Crypto.com later dropped the suit. The company has not publicly commented on the status of the SEC’s investigation.
The Immutable decision represents another step toward regulatory clarity in the evolving Web3 gaming space. For now, the company can move forward without the cloud of SEC enforcement hanging over its operations.
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