Coinbase Seeks Court’s Help to Make SEC Release Documents Related to Its Case

Top crypto exchange Coinbase has filed a motion asking the court to compel the SEC and its chairman, Gary Gensler to handover documents related to the exchange’s case with the agency.

Coinbase filed the motion in a New York court on Tuesday, asking it to compel Gensler and the SEC to provide documents that Coinbase says are at the heart of its litigation with the agency. 

The SEC has been in court with Coinbase since last year when the agency sued the exchange for operating a crypto trading platform without registering. Coinbase said in court on Wednesday that long before the case, SEC commissioners and staff met with crypto market stakeholders, including Coinbase, and posted public statements and guidance about crypto regulation.

“Documents related to these communications bear directly on the SEC’s claims and on Coinbase’s fair notice defense,” Coinbase said. 

“The SEC will not search for these relevant documents. It refuses to search any documents outside of a self-selected group of Enforcement Division investigatory files. And it refuses a produce-or-log protocol for any custodian email searches. That extends to Chair Gensler’s SEC emails, and even to asking Chair Gensler whether he used his personal email for communications about his public statements on these subjects that he said were made in his personal capacity,” Coinbase added.

Details of the Motion

The SEC sued Coinbase for operating an unregistered crypto platform, but also for allowing the trading of what it calls “unregistered securities”. Coinbase is requesting that certain documents related to the tokens the SEC complained about.

Other documents are those concerning the SEC’s deliberation of Coinbase becoming a public company in April 2021, and statements that Gensler made personally and professionally during his time at the SEC. 

“We have a right to defend ourselves, and if they are talking to these token issuers about the law, the lawful status of their projects or the scope or reach of the federal securities laws as it applies to their blockchain networks — we’re entitled to it, and that’s what we’re looking for,” said Paul Grewal, chief legal officer at Coinbase in an interview with The Block. 

The aim according to Grewal, is for the crypto industry to know if there are contradictory statements the SEC made, or documents that attest to how securities laws apply to the crypto industry.

The Lingering SEC Case

Coinbase isn’t the only crypto exchange that has come under scrutiny by the SEC. The largest crypto exchange in the world, Binance, was also dragged to court for allegedly operating an illegal exchange.

With Coinbase insisting on bringing out documents concerning its case, the crypto industry as a whole may be vindicated if the