Türkçe
Español
Coinbase and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are intensifying their legal battle with the SEC’s latest move. On August 5, the SEC opposed Coinbase’s request for additional documents and emails from SEC Chairman Gary Gensler. The Commission deemed Coinbase’s requests “irrelevant” and unnecessarily burdensome.
SEC Resists in Coinbase Lawsuit
SEC argues in court filings that Coinbase’s requests are unrelated to the Coinbase-SEC case. The U.S.-based major cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase had asked the SEC to review and produce documents from 17 additional custodians. Coinbase hoped to find materials related to securities laws applied to the mentioned altcoins, but the SEC argued that the request did not meet the relevance and proportionality requirements under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(1).
The SEC stated that the requests amounted to a “fishing expedition with little marginal benefit” and would impose a “tremendous burden” on the Commission. The filing noted, “Coinbase does not meet the relevance and proportionality requirements of Rule 26(b).” The Commission argued that a meeting with FTX and a provided “slide presentation” example were insufficient to justify broad document requests.
Additionally, Coinbase requested various documents to support its “fair notice” defense. This requires that cryptocurrency regulations provide adequate notice of what conduct is required or prohibited. The SEC countered that such a defense did not justify extensive discovery requests.
The SEC highlighted its extensive efforts in the Coinbase-SEC case so far. The Commission stated it had reviewed or produced approximately 357,000 documents related to the matter. The SEC’s filing noted, “Reviewing and logging 3 million more documents cannot justify the fishing expedition burden.” It also mentioned that additional documents were likely privileged and unrelated to the Coinbase-SEC case.
SEC Opposes Coinbase’s “Gary Gensler” Request
The SEC also firmly rejected Coinbase’s request for a sample of Chairman Gensler’s personal emails. The Commission argued that Gensler’s views expressed in his speeches were his own and not made on behalf of the Commission. It clarified that these views were not made in a private setting.
The Commission stated, “The Chairman’s statement reflects the principle that one person cannot bind a five-member commission.” Furthermore, the SEC added that even if Gensler made a speech in his private life, it did not justify the intrusive search proposed by the cryptocurrency exchange. The SEC warned of the potential consequences of accepting the exchange’s requests.
The SEC stated, “Having the Chairman conduct a search or provide a ‘sample’ of his personal emails is time-consuming and thus prejudicial to the SEC. This would create a fear among current and potential SEC employees that their private lives would be scrutinized when they make certain disclaimers while speaking publicly.” Therefore, the SEC asked the court to deny the exchange’s request in the ongoing Coinbase-SEC case.
