NFT collection CyberKongz says it's in the clear after SEC probe

NFT collection CyberKongz says the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has shut its investigation, marking the latest probe ended by the agency since President Donald Trump took office earlier this year.

CyberKongz posted on Tuesday on X that the SEC's investigation was closed and announced a "rebrand."

"As for CyberKongz, the shackles are lifted," the firm said. "We have been preparing for this day for a long time. A full rebrand and new direction for CyberKongz will be announced soon."

In December, CyberKongz said it received a Wells Notice from the SEC — a form of communication from SEC staff that informs a firm that the agency's staff may recommend an enforcement action against them. 

CyberKongz said it had "been suffering in silence" for the past two years when the SEC first contacted them. The NFT collection said the SEC's enforcement team brought up a "very concerning rhetoric that you can not have a token (ERC-20) in tandem with a blockchain game without registering it as a security."

The SEC declined on Tuesday to comment about closing its probe. 

Since the new year, the SEC has ended its legal pursuits of several crypto firms — including Coinbase, OpenSea, Kraken, Consensys and Uniswap, among others — as the agency has taken a significantly different approach to crypto. Former SEC Chair Gary Gensler had taken a cautious approach to the industry, calling most cryptocurrencies securities and bringing several charges against those major firms, many of which are now suspended. 

The regulator has also created a crypto task force, which held its second roundtable last week as part of a series of such meetings to discuss regulating the industry. 

NFTs have been a focus at the SEC over the years. The agency  charged Impact Theory and later Stoner Cats 2 LLC with an unregistered offering of non-fungible tokens. OpenSea, the leading centralized NFT marketplace, is now pushing the SEC to clarify that NFT marketplaces do not qualify as exchanges or brokers under federal securities laws.