Coinbase has officially filed lawsuits against the SEC and FDIC, accusing the two of trying to cut out the crypto industry from the banking sector. The exchange says the two regulators haven’t complied with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), and is asking the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to force the agencies to comply.
The official filing reads: “For nearly two years, a wide array of federal financial regulators — including the Securities and Exchange Commission, the FDIC, and the Federal Reserve Board — have used every regulatory tool at their disposal to try to cripple the digital-asset industry… This FOIA lawsuit seeks to bring to light the FDIC’s role in that unlawful scheme.”
In a statement on X, the Chief Legal Officer of Coinbase, Paul Grewal, announced the lawsuit and aired out further grievances from Coinbase. “Financial regulators have used multiple tools at their disposal to try to cripple the digital-asset industry,” the statement reads.” [The SEC] has claimed sweeping authority, but refuses to provide any rules, let alone consistent or coherent ones. While [the FDIC] pressured financial institutions to cut off the industry from the banking system.”
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Coinbase Fires Back At SEC and FDIC On Behalf Of The Crypto Industry
Coinbase is represented by consultant firm History Associates Inc, and History Associates also filed the FOIC requests. The FOIA requests asked for information about how the agency views ether, according to the complaint. These requests, once granted, would allow these documents and information to be viewed by the public. History Associates specifically asked for “access to all copies and records concerning Ethereum’s shift to a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism,” and said that the SEC denied the request and later denied their appeal.
“The SEC’s rationale for withholding documents from investigations that concluded in settlements years ago is tailor-made to frustrate the legitimate purposes for which Coinbase sought the Coburn and Enigma MPC documents in the first place — to understand the view of the law that underlies the SEC’s enforcement blitzkrieg against the digital-asset industry…The SEC’s stonewalling violates its FOIA obligations.”
Coinbase in complaint to FDIC and SEC
The Coinbase CLO also added in his statement that now is the time for the FDIC and SEC to do better. “This is no way to regulate. And this is no way to operate a transparent government. Today we demand better from our financial regulators. We appreciate the Court’s attention to these important issues and look forward to sharing updates in the future.”
The SEC and FDIC have yet to respond to the lawsuits publicly and may be pushed by the court to respond to the FOIC requests.