SEC Files Opposition to “Breathtakingly Broad” Coinbase Subpoena Request

On Monday, August 5, 2024, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a Memorandum of Law in Opposition to Coinbase’s Motion to Compel Discovery in an ongoing legal battle between the two parties.

In the memorandum, the SEC argued against Coinbase’s attempts to subpoena extensive internal communications from the agency, including the personal email records of SEC Chairman Gary Gensler. The regulatory body described Coinbase’s request as “breathtakingly broad” and asserted it sought “essentially all documents that in any way relate to crypto.”

The SEC’s opposition stems from a lawsuit it filed last year against Coinbase, accusing the cryptocurrency exchange of operating as an unregistered securities exchange, broker, and clearing agency. It also alleges Coinbase conducted unregistered securities sales through its staking products. Since then, the two sides have been engaged in a discovery dispute over what documentation Coinbase is entitled to obtain from the SEC ahead of trial.

In its motion, Coinbase had pushed for records spanning Gensler’s entire tenure as SEC Chair starting in April 2021, as well as the four years prior to his appointment. It claimed this was necessary to build its defense against the SEC’s allegations. However, the SEC countered this sweep was unjustified and overbroad. During a July telephonic conference, the presiding judge expressed skepticism toward Coinbase’s reasoning.

While Coinbase marginally narrowed the scope of its subpoena motion later that month, the SEC remains firmly against releasing certain personal communications from Gensler unrelated to his agency work.

Please contact BlockTribune for access to a copy of this filing.