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SEC settles Coinbase-backed records lawsuit, pays $150,000 in costs

SEC settles Coinbase-backed records lawsuit, pays $150,000 in costs

The agency agreed to pay legal costs and release previously unreleased records after a FOIA fight over Ethereum-related SEC materials and missing messages tied to Gary Gensler.

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Fact Check
The WSJ op-ed 'Coinbase Sues, the SEC Settles' — a first-party account from Coinbase's Chief Legal Officer — explicitly confirms the SEC will pay $150,000 and reform its record-retention policies as part of the FOIA-related settlement, matching the claim. CryptoBriefing independently corroborates the $150,000 figure, the FOIA context, and the record-retention improvements. Both sources align on the core facts (SEC settlement, $150,000 payment, records/record-retention issue), supporting the claim.
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Summary

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission agreed to pay $150,000 and release previously unreleased documents to settle a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit brought in June 2024 by History Associates on Coinbase’s behalf. A joint filing on July 22 asked the Washington, D.C., District Court to dismiss the case. The dispute centered on requests for records tied to SEC investigations into Zachary Coburn and Enigma MPC, as well as communications and internal materials related to Ethereum’s shift from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake. The court process led the SEC to produce thousands of documents and to prioritize records and correspondence sent, received or reviewed by Gary Gensler concerning Ethereum’s transition. The case drew added scrutiny after the SEC Inspector General said in September 2025 that Gensler’s text messages from October 2022 to September 2023 were accidentally deleted. Subsequent court records showed the SEC erased 21 phones belonging to senior officials, including five tied to personnel whose records were sought in the Coinbase case, and the agency reportedly notified the National Archives and Records Administration in July 2025. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said the episode, alongside allegations involving the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation during the 2023 banking crisis, showed how records fights exposed missing or concealed evidence.

Terms & Concepts
  • FOIA: A U.S. law that gives the public the right to request records from federal agencies.
  • proof-of-stake: A blockchain validation system in which participants lock up tokens to help validate transactions and secure the network.
  • proof-of-work: A blockchain validation system that uses computing power to secure the network and process transactions.