George Miller
Paul Grewal, the Chief Legal Officer at Coinbase, has publicly criticized the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) for mishandling a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. On X, he accused the FDIC of misusing FOIA Exemption 8 to hide information regarding efforts to inhibit Bitcoin transactions and blockchain technology.
Coinbase’s Legal Chief Calls Out FDIC
In his statement, Grewal remarked, “The FDIC’s misuse of FOIA Exemption 8 to conceal information has potentially been worse than the issue itself. For true government accountability, transparency is essential.”
The dispute revolves around the FDIC’s redactions in its response to Coinbase’s FOIA inquiry. Grewal asserts that the FDIC misrepresented the rationale behind these redactions. He claimed, “The FDIC was not truthful. The redactions weren’t meant to protect sensitive supervisory details; they aimed to hide evidence of attempts to stifle BTC transactions and hinder blockchain advancements, along with a bank account variance for stablecoin reserves.”
The FDIC’s misuse of FOIA Exemption 8 to conceal information has arguably been even worse. If we want government accountability, we need government transparency. As outlined below, FDIC’s redactions in response to our FOIA request… pic.twitter.com/W7tbXTPtsi
— paulgrewal.eth (@iampaulgrewal) January 6, 2025
A federal court that examined the redactions raised concerns about the FDIC’s efforts. Grewal pointed out that the court noted a “lack of good-faith effort” from the FDIC in producing thoughtful redactions and criticized the agency for attempting to generalize its redaction process rather than providing specific exclusions.
Grewal also questioned the FDIC’s reasoning behind the redactions. He highlighted that the FDIC claimed revealing the pause letters would produce “reasonably foreseeable” harm by disclosing specific operations and plans of the targets, asserting that no foreseeable harm was evident from these redactions.
“This blatant arrogance doesn’t just offend the public,” Grewal concluded in his passionate statement. He further stated, “It belittles the authority of the Courts and Congress, undermining their ability to exercise independent oversight.”