Coinbase Wins Settlement with SEC Over Lost Records

Coinbase has settled a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over records it sought from the agency, according to Coinbase's chief legal officer Paul Grewal in a Wall Street Journal op-ed on July 22.

The SEC had lost text messages between former Chair Gary Gensler and other officials after a process that automatically wiped certain data, Grewal wrote. The SEC will pay $150,000 as part of the settlement and fix its record-retention policies.

Coinbase sued the SEC and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. in 2024 seeking documents it said would show a concerted effort by U.S. regulators to stamp out crypto companies.