SEC Seeks Extension till February 2025 to produce documents in Coinbase Case

Key Takeaways

• If approved, the extension would give the SEC until February to finish the fact-discovery
•  The extension comes after Coinbase successfully argued to the SEC to disclose how it applies securities laws to crypto tokens.
• SEC explained it is reviewing over 133,000 documents and needs more time to comply with the court’s order.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has asked for more time to gather documents in its ongoing legal battle with Coinbase, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the country. On September 18, the SEC filed a request in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, seeking a four-month extension to the discovery deadline, pushing it from October 18 to February 18, 2025.

The extension comes days after Coinbase successfully argued to the SEC to disclose how it applies securities laws to crypto tokens. In the filing, the SEC explained it is reviewing over 133,000 documents and needs more time to comply with the court’s order.

If approved by Judge Katherine Failla, the extension would give the SEC until February to finish the fact discovery. Expert discovery, which involves gathering testimony and other evidence, could extend until late April. Any potential jury trial wouldn’t start until 2025.

Coinbase’s Chief Legal Officer, Paul Grewal, has also shared updates on a separate lawsuit the exchange is pursuing against the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). The case centres around obtaining “pause letters” the FDIC allegedly sent to banks, advising them to stop working with crypto companies. Grewal noted that the court had ordered the FDIC to provide a log of relevant documents.

At the same time, lawmakers are questioning the SEC’s role in overseeing the crypto industry. On September 18, members of the House Subcommittee on Digital Assets met to discuss whether the SEC’s handling of cryptocurrency regulation under Gensler has been overly political.

Last year, the SEC charged Coinbase for operating as an unregistered national securities exchange, broker, and clearing agency. In a July 2024 court filing, Coinbase’s legal team requested access to private communications from Gary Gensler, the SEC Chair, from 2021 onwards.

The motion is directed at uncovering Gensler’s communications during his tenure as SEC Chair. In August 2024, the SEC also urged a New York court to reject Coinbase’s request for a subpoena demanding an array of documents tied to crypto assets, dubbing the request as excessively broad, covering “essentially all documents related to crypto assets in any way.”