South Carolina has dropped its staking lawsuit against Coinbase, following Vermont’s lead.
Echoing Vermont’s action, South Carolina withdrew its lawsuit against Coinbase over staking, a decision that the firm views as beneficial for American consumers.
South Carolina followed the lead of other states in dropping its lawsuit against Coinbase, which accused the platform of offering unregistered securities through its staking services.
On March 27, Coinbase and the South Carolina Attorney General’s securities division finalized a joint agreement that officially ended the lawsuit.
“South Carolina just joined Vermont to dismiss its unfounded staking lawsuit against Coinbase,” the firm’s chief legal officer, Paul Grewal, said in a March 27 X post.
“This is not just a victory for us, but for American consumers and we hope it’s a sign of things to come in the few states left that restrict staking.”
South Carolina and Vermont initially joined eight other U.S. states in suing Coinbase over its staking services on June 6, 2023—the same day the federal securities regulator launched its own lawsuit against the exchange.
On February 27, 2025, the Securities and Exchange Commission officially dismissed its lawsuit against Coinbase.
Along with South Carolina, Alabama, California, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, Washington, and Wisconsin also took enforcement actions against Coinbase.
Grewal expressed hope that other states would follow suit, noting that South Carolina residents lost approximately $2 million in staking rewards because of the lawsuit.
“The 52 million Americans who own crypto deserve commonsense consumer protections and clear rules,” he said. “We applaud South Carolina for standing up for justice and hope the remaining states with bans on staking will take notice.”
On March 27, lawmakers in South Carolina unveiled a legislative proposal titled the Strategic Digital Assets Reserve Act of South Carolina, which seeks to allow the state treasurer to allocate up to 10% of selected state funds toward cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin.
Rep. Jordan Pace introduced House Bill 4256 in South Carolina, setting it apart from other U.S. state crypto reserve bills by explicitly mentioning Bitcoin multiple times in its proposal for a Strategic Digital Assets Reserve.
If passed, this bill would grant South Carolina’s treasurer, Curtis Loftis, the authority to oversee a Bitcoin reserve of up to 1 million BTC—a figure that aligns with or even surpasses the U.S. federal government’s aspirations for its Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.
The proposed measure allows the treasurer to invest Bitcoin in the General Fund, the Budget Stabilization Reserve Fund, and other financial assets under their control.
Although the bill does not mention stablecoins, NFTs, Ether, or other crypto assets, it clarifies that the Strategic Digital Assets Reserve will not be solely limited to Bitcoin.
Out of 42 Bitcoin reserve bills introduced in 19 states, lawmakers have kept 36 moving forward, according to Bitcoin Law.
Earlier this month, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order that will lead to the formation of a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a Digital Asset Stockpile, which will initially receive funding from cryptocurrency confiscated in government criminal cases.
