The failure to grant Coinbase’s request for the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) has fixed the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) in new lawsuits.
SEC And FDIC Denies Coinbase FOIA Requests
Last year, Coinbase employed the services of consultancy firm History Associates Incorporated to help file the FOIA requests. These were aimed at retrieving records from the SEC and FDIC. In the FOIA request to the SEC, Coinbase asked for the agency’s thoughts on Ethereum (ETH). Unfortunately, the requests were outrightly denied.
In response to this denial, the exchange decided to indict both agencies as a way of forcing them to hand over the documents in their possession. The new lawsuits were filed on Thursday in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. The American cryptocurrency exchange has asked the court, in two separate lawsuits, to mandate both agencies to comply with its request.
Multiple Coinbase vs SEC Lawsuits
In the lawsuits, History Associates which was listed as the plaintiff, and Coinbase as a related party, accused both regulators of segregating the crypto exchange from the banking sector. This has been a source of concern for many crypto firms especially as it cripples their businesses in the U.S. For the longest time, Coinbase has been firing shots at the SEC especially, in line with regulatory clarity.
At the beginning of June, Coinbase submitted a filing with the U.S. Court of Appeals, accusing the SEC of aiming to “choke” the burgeoning digital asset industry. All the exchange requested was that the court compel the securities regulator to create clear and fair rules for the crypto industry.
ConsenSys Sue SEC Over Ethereum
A few weeks ago, blockchain software company ConsenSys was also forced to sue the SEC.
The company attempted to address concerns raised by the SEC regarding potential fraud and manipulation risks associated with Ethereum’s Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism. This was before the regulator approved spot Ethereum Exchange-traded Funds (ETFs). Their discussion later led to a lawsuit. However, the SEC dropped the investigation into Ethereum 2.0 last week. This dropped Ethereum probe lasted for about 18 months.
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