The complaint accuses government agencies of obstructing efforts to obtain clarity on crypto-related policies and of violating FOIA obligations. FOIA requests allow public access to records held by U.S. watchdogs.
The firm also requested access to investigative information about cease-and-desist orders issued to Enigma MPC and Etherdelta founder Zachary Coburn. Following an FDIC report in October, which revealed a directive for financial institutions to pause all operations related to crypto-assets, Coinbase asked the corporation to send copies of the letters.
Requests for details to the SEC and FDIC were denied multiple times, prompting Coinbase to seek retrieval through court proceedings. According to Coinbase, both agencies, especially the SEC, have deliberately worked to exclude cryptocurrency from the U.S. financial system.
An excerpt from the lawsuit highlights how “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.” SEC chair Gary Gensler has often criticized the emerging digital asset landscape, scrutinizing the industry for fraudulent practices and non-compliance.
America’s biggest crypto exchange is currently engaged in three fronts with the SEC in pursuit of regulatory clarity.
