Coinbase Sues SEC and FDIC, Accusing Regulators of Trying to Stifle Crypto Industry

This action is part of Coinbase's continuous attempts to protect investors in Bitcoin and XRP, as well as to demand openness from financial authorities.

Coinbase filed a new court action to obtain crucial documents regarding the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s (FDIC) policies on cryptocurrency regulation.

This action is part of Coinbase’s continuous attempts to protect investors in Bitcoin and XRP, as well as to demand openness from financial authorities.

Coinbase filed the actions in Washington, D.C., requesting access to internal documents. What Coinbase refers to as a “deliberate and concerted effort by the SEC, FDIC, and other financial regulators” to encourage banks to deny crypto companies access to the federal banking system is anticipated to be revealed by these records.

Coinbase filed complaints after attempting to obtain information under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) on three SEC investigations of cryptocurrency companies and entrepreneurs between 2018 and 2024, one of which was just closed and concerned the Ethereum blockchain network.

Coinbase also requested specifics of “pause letters” that the FDIC had sent to a few banks between March 2022 and May 2023, asking them to stop doing anything connected to cryptocurrencies until more information on the risks involved could be given.

An October report by the FDIC’s Office of the Inspector General included the pause letters and described the agency’s approaches to the dangers connected to cryptocurrency. Though Coinbase is legally entitled to the information under FOIA, it says the SEC and FDIC refused to provide it.

Coinbase refers to “Operation Chokepoint 2.0,” a term that the cryptocurrency community coined to describe what they believe to be a coordinated effort by financial authorities to prevent cryptocurrency companies from obtaining essential banking services.