US SEC settles FOIA lawsuit with Coinbase over lost messages, WSJ op-ed says

Reuters

Wed, July 22, 2026 astatine 5:41 AM CDT 1 min read

July 22 (Reuters) - Coinbase has settled a Freedom of Information Act suit against the U.S. Securities ‌and Exchange Commission implicit records it sought ‌from the agency, the cryptocurrency exchange's main ineligible officer, Paul Grewal, ​said successful a Wall Street Journal op-ed connected Wednesday.

Grewal said the agency, which polices firm record-keeping, had mislaid substance messages betwixt erstwhile Chair Gary Gensler and different ‌officials aft a process ⁠the SEC said "automatically wiped" definite data.

As portion of the settlement, the SEC volition wage $150,000 ⁠and hole its record-retention policies, helium wrote.

SEC did not instantly respond to a Reuters petition for comment.

Coinbase sued ​the SEC ​and the Federal Deposit ​Insurance Corp. successful 2024, ‌seeking documents it said would amusement a concerted effort by U.S. regulators to stamp retired crypto companies.

The suit sought further communications from elder SEC officials, including Gensler.

Coinbase has scored large wins from the SEC nether ‌U.S. President Donald Trump, including ​the dismissal of a large suit ​the regulator brought ​against the institution nether President Joe Biden.

It ‌also championed a stablecoin measure ​passed by ​the U.S. Congress.

Reuters has reported that the SEC is preparing much industry-friendly policies, including 1 that ​would let crypto ‌companies to connection blockchain-based stocks.

(Reporting by Hannah Lang ​in New York and Utkarsh Shetti successful ​Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid)