Bittrex Seeks $24M Return After SEC Drops Similar Crypto Cases

Bittrex asked a federal judge in Seattle to vacate a 2023 settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission and return $24 million paid under that agreement.

The SEC sued Bittrex in 2023, alleging the exchange operated an unregistered securities exchange, broker and clearing agency and that many tokens traded on the platform were unregistered securities. Bittrex settled the case without admitting or denying the allegations and paid about $24 million, including roughly $14.4 million in alleged profits and interest plus a civil penalty. The company had earlier paid $29 million to the Treasury Department in 2022 to resolve sanctions-related issues. After the SEC settlement, Bittrex announced it would wind down U.S. operations and later filed for bankruptcy protection.

Bittrex’s lawyers argue the SEC has changed its legal approach to digital tokens and has dropped nearly all comparable suits and investigations. The court filing says: “Two-and-a-half years after extracting a settlement from a bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange premised on the legal theory that the tokens that traded on the exchange were securities, the SEC has (a) conceded that its legal theory was wrong… (b) acknowledged that its enforcement strategy was misguided from the start, and (c) dropped every similar case and investigation except this one.”

In March 2026 the SEC sought to move the $24 million to the Treasury for possible distribution to harmed customers, but attempts to identify and locate those customers were unsuccessful. Bittrex asked the court to return the funds to the company before any transfer to the Treasury occurs.

Federal judges generally require a high legal standard to vacate final judgments, and courts do not often undo settled cases. Legal observers are watching whether other firms that settled with the SEC under the prior enforcement approach will try to reopen past penalties.

The SEC did not comment on the litigation. The court will decide Bittrex’s motion.