Bitrabo Editorial
On Monday, Paul Grewal, the Chief Legal Officer of Coinbase, shared that the exchange is intensifying its legal fight against US regulators by submitting two new Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.
Grewal stressed the need for transparency in how government bodies handle digital asset regulations, asserting, “As long as the government persists, Coinbase will too.”
Coinbase’s Quest for Key Regulatory Insights
The first FOIA request is aimed at acquiring information concerning the limits set on digital asset deposits by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) alongside other banking officials.
The second request seeks to obtain logs related to how these regulatory organizations process other FOIA requests. These two new requests differ from previous filings made over a year ago, which are still engaged in federal court disputes.
Grewal provided further detail about the new requests, which seek all communications and documents shared between various regulatory officials, such as those from the Treasury’s Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the FDIC, and the Federal Reserve Board.
The requested documents should focus on any limits or regulations on deposits from digital asset firms at institutions like Signature Bank and Silvergate Bank, going back to June 1, 2022.
The broad definition of “documents” in this request includes a variety of items such as emails, meeting notes, contracts, and any pertinent communications, aiming to gain a thorough understanding of the regulators’ management of digital asset deposit caps.
Seeking Understanding of Securities Regulations
This ongoing dispute with US regulators follows a prior FOIA request by History Associates for Coinbase, which the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rejected, citing an exemption related to ongoing law enforcement activities.
Beyond the FOIA requests, Coinbase has recently filed for a court order to pressure the SEC into releasing internal documents that could clarify how securities laws apply to digital assets.
This encompasses files about Ethereum’s shift to a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism and investigations regarding Enigma MPC and Zachary Coburn, who have previously resolved claims with the SEC.
Despite these initiatives, Coinbase has conveyed its dissatisfaction with the SEC’s limited feedback, which only included three heavily redacted pages, asserting that additional records are also kept confidential under the same exemption.
History Associates, advocating on behalf of Coinbase in this FOIA issue, contends that agencies must disclose relevant records unless they can convincingly argue that they fall under specific exemptions, to which the SEC requested more time to respond.
As of this writing, Coinbase’s shares, identified as COIN, are trading at $213.
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