Coinbase sues SEC, FDIC for information relating to crypto regulation

Coinbase is launching a new legal offensive against the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to procure documents relating to the agencies’ approaches to crypto regulation, FOX Business has learned.

According to the lawsuits filed Thursday in a Washington, D.C., district court, the U.S.’s largest crypto exchange is suing both regulators to gain access to internal records to shed light on what it describes as a “deliberate and concerted effort by the SEC, FDIC and other financial regulators” to pressure banks to deny crypto firms access to the federal banking system.

“For years, financial regulators – including the SEC, the FDIC, and the Federal Reserve Board – have used every tool at their disposal to try to cripple the digital-asset industry,” a Coinbase spokeswoman said in a statement to FOX Business. “We demand transparency from our federal government.”

The SEC declined comment. The FDIC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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A representation of the cryptocurrency is seen in front of Coinbase logo in this illustration taken, March 4, 2022.  (Reuters/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo / Reuters Photos)

The move comes following Coinbase’s attempts to retrieve information through the Freedom of Information Act regarding three SEC investigations into crypto firms and entrepreneurs between 2018 and 2024, including its recently closed probe into the Ethereum blockchain network. The exchange is hoping the requested information will give it a better understanding of the SEC’s evolving views on digital assets over the years.

Coinbase also requested details of so-called “pause letters” sent by the FDIC between March 2022 and May 2023 to a handful of banks asking them to pause any crypto-related activity until it could provide further guidance on the risks associated with it.

The pause letters were revealed following an October report by the FDIC’s Office of the Inspector General detailing the agency’s strategies relating to risks associated with cryptocurrencies.
 

Coinbase says it was denied access to the requested information by both the SEC and the FDIC, despite being legally entitled to it under the Freedom of Information Act, which allows the public to request access to non-public records from federal agencies.

The headquarters of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is seen in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 28, 2021. (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)

This is the second time this month that the SEC has been sued for failing to comply with FOIA requests. On June 6, the American Securities Association sued the agency to obtain documents relating to its investigations into record-keeping practices at dozens of Wall Street firms including Morgan…