Coinbase has secured internal SEC documents related to its investigation into Ethereum 2.0 following a FOIA lawsuit.
Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal revealed that the SEC had released previously withheld materials, including a May 2022 analysis assessing Ethereum 2.0 under the Howey test, a February 2023 email inquiring about ETH’s status as a security, and an April 2023 memorandum for SEC commissioners regarding the probe. Additionally, the release contains a case closing summary that concludes the investigation.
We squeezed more details from @SECGov in our FOIA suit about the Gensler-era investigation of ETH2.0. They’ve identified the following documents in their “Vaugh index” of withheld materials that we intend to pursue. 1/9
— paulgrewal.eth (@iampaulgrewal) April 21, 2025
Initially, the SEC denied Coinbase’s FOIA requests by invoking Exemption 7(A), which protects documents linked to ongoing enforcement actions. However, after the Ethereum 2.0 inquiry concluded without any charges filed, the agency conceded that the exemption “may” no longer apply.
Grewal criticized the SEC’s inconsistent stance on digital assets, particularly questioning why Ethereum passed the agency’s internal “ecosystem” test while other tokens did not. He argued that greater transparency is essential to prevent repeating regulatory missteps that could stifle innovation.
This legal battle forms part of Coinbase’s broader effort to challenge what it sees as the SEC’s regulatory overreach and the ongoing lack of clear, consistent guidance in the crypto industry.
Further escalating its campaign for transparency, Coinbase has also filed lawsuits against both the SEC and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), contesting their refusal to release records under separate FOIA requests related to prior investigations and enforcement actions in the digital asset space.
Meanwhile, Coinbase’s blockchain platform, Base, recently faced public criticism after promoting a memecoin on social media. On April 16, Base shared a post on X with the slogan “Base is for everyone,” linking it to a newly launched token on Zora’s digital asset marketplace. Although the token’s market cap spiked to $17.1 million within 75 minutes of its debut, it plummeted by nearly 90% to just $1.9 million in the next 20 minutes, raising concerns about oversight and responsibility in promoting speculative assets.
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