Coinbase Files Lawsuit Against FDIC and SEC Over Document Requests Related to Previous Crypto Sector Enforcement Actions

Paul Grewal, the Chief Legal Officer at US-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN),  has pointed out that at first, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had reportedly stated that it could potentially avoid Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) since documents they’re owed are considered to be “exempt.”

Paul Grewal, the CLO at digital assets firm Coinbase, also mentioned via social media that the SEC then stated that exemption “may” no longer apply but won’t say “for sure.”

 

Paul Grewal of Coinbase added that now the SEC apparently wants at least 3 years in order find another exemption in order to “avoid the law.” Grewal from Coinbase has now requested the DDC to end this “nonsense.”

Grewal, the CLO at Coinbase, also noted via X that more than a year back, they had made FOIA requests aimed at files on ETH 2.0 and other “mysteries” that “belong to all of us, not the SEC.”

Coinbase had then sued in an effort to end their stall, only to get an “entirely new set f excuses.”

Their “constantly changing” story begs the ?s—what is SEC hiding and why. Paul Grewal of Coinbase also stated that they nowt appreciate the Court’s consideration of their request for partial summary judgment in their case and the public’s “right to know what its government is doing in its name.”

Grewal from Coinbase adde that “even Kafka couldn’t have dreamed this up.”

It’s worth noting that the crypto industry in general (including firms such as Crypto.com) are frustrated with the SEC’s approach towards regulating crypto-assets and the nascent blockchain/web3 space.

Like many other digital assets industry participants, Coinbase continues with its SEC lawsuit over the denied FOIA request.

Coinbase had reportely appointed History Associates just this last year to assist in obtaining records from the SEC and FDIC.

Earlier this week, Coinbase proceeded to advance its case against the US SEC over “violations” to the Freedom of Information Act.

As stated in the filing, Coinbase and History Associates (the consulting company the exchange is currently working closely with on this issue) are requesting a pre-trial session in order to go over a suggested motion for a partial summary judgment in the said court case.

Coinbase and History Associates will now reportedly be focused on accessing records from the SEC as well as the FDIC.

These requests had been denied and History Associates had then proceeded to file lawsuits against both authorities back in June of this year. This was done in an atttempt to get them to provide the documents.

History Associates has been named as the plaintiff, meanwhile, Coinbase is identified as a related entity. Coinbase has tried to obtain documents from the SEC that are said to be related to several key investigations.Coinbase is now intereested in finding out pertinent details regarding exactly how the SEC tries to classify cryptocurrencies.

History Associates has specifically noted in its official complaint that these case are now “long-closed,” so there may be no “potential interference with law enforcement activities” if the SEC provides these pertinent documents.

Notably, the SEC rejected assertions that it does not have the authority to monitor the crypto space in the manner that it is currently doing.

The regulator further stated that it did not “improperly withhold any documents” under the Freedom of Information Act. The SEC also claimed that it would carry out another review process of the documents in order to figure out if they should be shared.

The exemption referenced by SEC last year, FOIA Exemption 7(A), might no longer apply. The SEC added that this process might now take as long as three years to start. But this depends on whether History Associates decides to take back or change its request.

As part of its suggested (and not yet officially submitted) motion for summary judgment History Associates state that it would request the Court not to provide the SEC more time extensions.



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