After more than three years, Yuga Labs announced that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has officially closed its investigation into the NFT giant.

"This is a huge win for NFTs and all creators pushing our ecosystem forward," Yuga Labs stated in a March 3 post on X. The company emphasized that "NFTs are not securities," celebrating the decision as a turning point for the industry.

The SEC first launched its probe in October 2022, aiming to determine whether certain NFTs resembled traditional stocks and should be regulated as securities. This investigation was part of a broader crackdown under former Chair Gary Gensler, targeting NFT creators and marketplaces, including fractionalized NFTs.

Yuga Labs, the powerhouse behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club and Mutant Ape Yacht Club, was at the height of the NFT boom when the inquiry began. The company also acquired CryptoPunks, an early and highly valuable NFT collection. However, the market has since taken a nosedive. The floor price of Bored Ape NFTs saw a brief uptick to 13.75 ETH ($29,650) following the announcement but remains down over 90% from its peak in May 2022. Mutant Ape NFTs and ApeCoin, a token tied to Yuga Labs, have also plummeted more than 95% from their highs, according to CoinGecko.

The SEC's decision comes amid a noticeable shift in its enforcement strategy. Last month, the agency also closed its investigation into OpenSea and dropped lawsuits against major crypto exchanges Coinbase and Kraken.

While the SEC declined to comment, the move signals a potential cooling of regulatory aggression toward the crypto industry. Yuga Labs has yet to issue further statements.