SEC to Pay Coinbase $150,000 in Legal Fees to Settle Records Lawsuit
The settlement concludes a two-year dispute where Coinbase sought internal documents regarding the SEC's crypto enforcement actions.
Quick Look
- The US SEC agreed to pay Coinbase $150,000 in legal fees to settle a two-year lawsuit seeking internal records related to the agency's crypto crackdown.
- This agreement, filed Wednesday, follows revelations of deleted texts from former SEC Chair Gary Gensler and marks another legal win for Coinbase.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
The settlement ends a two-year lawsuit where Coinbase sought internal SEC documents to expose evidence of "crypto by enforcement," amidst a Biden-era SEC crackdown on crypto.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission agreed to pay $150,000 in legal fees to settle a Coinbase lawsuit seeking internal records from the agency at the height of the Biden-era SEC crackdown on crypto.
The agreement, filed on Wednesday, ends a two-year lawsuit between the SEC and Coinbase, in which the crypto exchange sought internal documents from the regulator to uncover evidence of “crypto by enforcement.” An internal report in 2025 revealed the SEC had deleted nearly a year of former SEC Chair Gary Gensler’s texts due to “avoidable” errors.
“The agency tasked with policing corporate record-keeping somehow lost reams of its own text messages between Mr. Gensler and other officials during the most intense period of the anti-crypto campaign,” said Coinbase chief legal officer Paul Grewal in an op-ed published by the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday, adding that the SEC will pay a $150,000 “award” and has fixed its record retention policies.
The settlement marks another legal victory for Coinbase under the Trump administration. The SEC, under the leadership of Paul Atkins, has taken a more crypto-friendly approach and dropped several high-profile enforcement actions against crypto companies, including Coinbase, in 2025.
In February, Coinbase reached a settlement with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, with the FDIC agreeing to pay $188,440 in legal fees and revising aspects of its transparency practices after a federal court found it had violated the Freedom of Information Act.
“The years of litigation were worth it. We successfully uncovered dozens of crypto ‘pause letters’—indisputable proof of OCP2.0 and the coordinated effort to sideline the industry,” Grewal said in an X post in February.
Grewal, who has served as Coinbase’s chief legal officer since 2020, is set to transition to an advisory role at the exchange starting on July 31, with Coinbase legal vice presidents Molly Abraham and Ryan VanGrack set to become general counsel and vice chair, respectively.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
Paul Grewal will transition to an advisory role at Coinbase.
Very likely · Within months
Open Questions
- What specific internal documents were uncovered?
- What was the full extent of the "avoidable" errors leading to text deletion?
- How will the SEC's revised record retention policies be implemented?
