Coinbase has launched a new legal challenge against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to obtain documents related to their approaches to crypto regulation. The lawsuits, filed in a Washington, D.C., district court, accuse the regulators of a coordinated effort to pressure banks to deny crypto firms access to the federal banking system.
Coinbase's lawsuits follow failed attempts to retrieve information through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) about SEC investigations into crypto firms and entrepreneurs from 2018 to 2024, including a recently closed probe into the Ethereum blockchain network. Coinbase is also seeking details about “pause letters” sent by the FDIC between March 2022 and May 2023, which urged banks to halt crypto-related activities until further guidance was provided.
Despite being legally entitled to the information under FOIA, Coinbase says both the SEC and FDIC have denied access to the requested records. The exchange believes that top leadership at these agencies may be using coordinated pressure tactics to undermine the digital assets industry with tactics aimed at choking off the digital assets industry from the ‘lifeblood’ of the federal banking system. Coinbase hopes the lawsuits will provide a clearer picture of the SEC’s enforcement actions and regulatory stance on digital assets.
The exchange platform argues that the SEC’s inconsistent application of securities laws to digital assets is harming the industry, and it seeks transparency from the federal government to better understand the regulatory landscape.
