Coinbase seeks court order for SEC to produce Gensler linked docs

Coinbase filed a motion to compel the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to produce crucial documents in discovery. This includes documents linked to the token that the regulator covered in its complaints against the US-based crypto exchange, Coinbase.

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Paul Grewal, Chief Legal Officer of Coinbase stated that the documents it seeks to turn up in discovery include the regulator’s consideration of the exchange’s public offering. The crypto exchange seeks statements that Gary Gensler made in personal and professional capacities during his SEC tenure. 

Coinbase wants the SEC to produce crucial docs 

Per the court filings, SEC commissioners and non-enforcement staff had met with crypto market participants and issued public statements on the regulatory status of digital assets before it chose to file a legal action against Coinbase.

Today we are asking the Court to order @SECGov to produce important documents in discovery, including documents related to the tokens the SEC included in its complaint against @coinbase, the SEC’s consideration of our public offering, and statements Chair Gensler has made in his…

— paulgrewal.eth (@iampaulgrewal) July 23, 2024

Coinbase argued that documents related to these communications are directly relevant to the SEC’s current claims, while it is linked to the crypto exchange’s fair notice defense. It further asserts that the commission is refusing to search for these relevant documents.

On the other hand, the SEC is refusing to produce or log protocol for any custodian email searches in the case. The refusal extends to even asking for Chair Gensler’s SEC emails, which he used for communications about his public statements on key matters.

SEC maintains its stance

The regulator maintains its refusal of the request based on relevance and burden claims. Coinbase highlighted that the SEC’s similar claims in other litigations confirm that relevant documents exist with the commission outside of enforcement.

The SEC accused Coinbase of operating an unregistered securities exchange because several tokens listed on the platform are allegedly securities. It added that Coinbase’s staking services make up for unregistered securities offerings.

Coinbase urged the court that the SEC should be ordered to do the preliminary search to log relevant documents.

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The US-based crypto exchange has dealt with repeated legal scrutiny from the regulator. Recent positive court decisions have boosted Coinbase’s confidence and share price. COIN price surged by a massive 112% in the last 6 months, while, it is up by 64% on the year-to-date (YTD) period. COIN traded at $257.63 in the last trading session.

Earlier this year, the commission reportedly launched an investigation into Ethereum 2.0. Later on, the Enforcement Division of the SEC notified that it had closed its probe into the matter. This move suggested that the regulator will not push charges over the sales of Ether as securities transactions.

Earlier this week, the SEC approved 9 spot ETH ETF applications, including approval for Grayscale to convert its Grayscale Ethereum Trust (ETHE) to a spot ETF.