Coinbase Pushes to Obtain Gensler’s Emails

Key takeaways:

• In the midst of its ongoing legal struggle with the US securities regulator, Coinbase has filed a demand to compel the agency to reveal Gary Gensler’s private communications.
• The updated July 23 motion now requests, among other things, Gensler’s private correspondence from 2021 throughout his tenure as Chair of the SEC.

In the midst of its ongoing legal struggle with the US securities regulator, Coinbase has filed a demand to compel the agency to reveal Gary Gensler’s private communications. 

It follows Coinbase’s statement to Judge Katherine Polk Failla from last week, in which it stated that it had received opposition and intended to reduce the scope of its document request from the regulator.

Coinbase first requested a copy of Gensler’s private correspondence (before to and during his tenure as SEC Chair) in April, but the SEC and Judge Failla have since rebuffed the request.

The updated July 23 motion now requests, among other things, Gensler’s private correspondence from 2021 throughout his tenure as Chair of the SEC. The motion said:

“Following a preliminary conference with the Court, Coinbase withdrew its requests concerning pre-Chair communications,”

This move simply compels communications and documents in response to several SEC demands and Subpoena Request 23. Subpoena Request 23 references documents pertaining to Gensler’s statements on the legal status of digital assets and exchanges. 

It claims that the records may be crucial to defending itself against claims that it permitted the unlawful trade of unregistered securities on its platform. Coinbase chief legal officer Paul Grewal stated in a post on X on July 24:

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

The motion states that the SEC has declined to conduct a search for records outside of the investigative files of its Enforcement Division, citing an excessive burden and lack of relevancy.

Information on discussions SEC staff members have had with other market participants is also requested in the motion.

Documents pertaining to Gensler’s public remarks about crypto regulation and Coinbase’s 2021 public offering, which entailed a six-month SEC study, are also sought after. The motion said as follows:

“At no point did the SEC conclude that Coinbase was an unregistered exchange, broker, or clearing agency, nor did it identify any tokens listed on Coinbase’s platform — several of which are named tokens in this matter — that it believed were securities.”

In June 2023, Coinbase was sued by the SEC, alleging that it had been acting as a “unregistered securities broker” since 2019 and that it had listed thirteen tokens that it claimed were securities, in violation of federal securities laws.