Coinbase Secures Major Win In FOIA Case Against US FDIC

Coinbase CLO Paul Grewal revealed that, amazingly quickly, in his opinion, the judge in its FDIC FOIA case has ordered the agency to produce the Operation Chokepoint 2.0 pause letters and is hugely thankful for the action of the Court in this matter.

He announced it as a significant step toward transparency by the FDIC and other regulators. Coinbase is litigating and filing FOIA requests to force regulators to provide clear guidance.

Coinbase Secures Victory in Legal Battle Against FDIC

Coinbase’s Chief Legal Officer, Paul Grewal, announced that a judge has ordered the FDIC to release the Operation Chokepoint 2.0 pause letters following Coinbase’s FOIA request. This represents a move Grewal commends as a crucial step toward regulatory transparency.

In record time, the judge in our @FDICgov FOIA case has ordered the agency to produce the Operation Chokepoint 2.0 pause letters. We appreciate the Court’s consideration. Some much needed sunlight is on its way. pic.twitter.com/E2PHjVuHHg

— paulgrewal.eth (@iampaulgrewal) November 4, 2024

In like manner, Grewal decided to reveal how Coinbase’s FOIA request showed multiple instances where the FDIC reportedly instructed banks to halt crypto-related services. This legal push is part of Coinbase’s broader effort to compel regulators to clarify their stance on crypto by filing FOIA requests and other actions for greater transparency.

This development wasn‘t entirely unexpected, as just days ago Paul Grewal was disclosing that clarity was starting to emerge in Coinbase‘s interactions with the FDIC. 

“The agency finally started producing documents in response to Coinbase‘s Freedom of Information Act request, showing records related to the “pause letters” sent to banks as part of Operation Chokepoint 2.0,” Grewal then said. This came after the lawsuit the firm filed to compel compliance by the FDIC.

FOIA Requests Against US Regulators for Transparency on Crypto Crackdown Policies

Coinbase has filed two Freedom of Information Act requests to force US regulators to disclose information about the ongoing crypto crackdown on American banks, Coinbase’s chief legal officer Paul Grewal said. The filings go out to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. Allegedly, it instructed banks to cap deposits from crypto firms at 15% of their total deposits.

In October, Grewal said that these FOIA requests were part of the effort to clarify regulators’ approach to digital assets. He said the first request is for documents tied to the FDIC’s cap on banks’ digital asset deposits. The second one reported restrictions by various regulators.

A second FOIA request was filed seeking information about how regulators had responded in the past to such requests.

According to Coinbase, the FDIC unilaterally imposed these deposit caps without allowing a public comment period. This kind of period is usually called upon by US law. Afterwards, Grewal explained this FOIA filing is separate from those filed more than a year ago, subject to federal lawsuits.

Coinbase filed lawsuits in June against the SEC and FDIC over failures by the two to respond to FOIA requests. This includes a 2023 request for documents about the SEC’s positioning on how Ether is classified.

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