Crypto exchange Coinbase has filed two lawsuits against the US Securities and Exchange Commission [SEC] and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation [FDIC] on the grounds of not adhering to its Freedom of Information Act request.
The exchange has pleaded the court to mandate the aforementioned agencies to comply.
By suing the agencies, the exchange intends to get access to internal records on their "deliberate and concerted effort" to pressurize banks to deny crypto firms access to the country’s banking sector.
Highlighting the agencies’ role in the “unlawful scheme,” the FDIC suit filed by Coinbase underlined,
"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."
Filing the lawsuits is Coinbase’s way of demanding transparency. From 2018 to 2024, the exchange has tried getting information via the Freedom of Information Act with respect to three SEC crypto-related investigations.
Coinbase’s complaint noted,
"The SEC’s stonewalling violates its FOIA obligations."
The exchange has additionally asked for details regarding the FDIC’s "pause letters" sent to banks in the period between March 2022 and May 2023 asking them to halt all crypto-related activities.
The exchange’s legal team asserted that the pause letters - that weren’t sent in good faith - were a part of the government's Operation Choke Point 2.0.
Via a post on X, Coinbase’s Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal asserted,
“This is no way to regulate. And this is no way to operate a transparent government. Today we demand better from our financial regulators.”
