- Coinbase filed a motion to lift the litigation stay in its FOIA lawsuit against the FDIC, alleging the agency is withholding key documents related to crypto regulation
- The lawsuit, paused in February 2025, seeks access to “pause letters” that reportedly instructed banks to halt crypto-related services, part of alleged Operation Choke Point 2.0
- Coinbase’s Chief Legal Officer, Paul Grewal, emphasized that while cooperation has improved under FDIC Chairman Travis Hill, transparency remains insufficient, prompting the push to resume legal proceedings
Fresh out of the skirmish with the SEC, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is now looking to resolve another lawsuit with a department of the U.S. Government.
Today, March 31st, journalist Eleanor Terrett reported on Twitter that Coinbase has filed a motion in the D.C. District Court to lift the litigation stay in its Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
Coinbase argues that the FDIC is still withholding crucial documents and failing to cooperate with its requests for transparency regarding regulatory actions affecting the crypto industry.
Coinbase first sued the FDIC in late 2024 over transparency issues. At the time the exchange demanded access to documents related to “Operation Choke Point 2.0”, an alleged regulatory effort to diminish business relationships between crypto industries and traditional banks.
The exchange seeks to obtain the so-called “pause letters” that reportedly told banks to stop offering crypto-related services. After Donald Trump took office, he appointed Travis Hill as acting FDIC chairman. During the transition, the Coinbase-FDIC lawsuit was paused.
Basically, the lawsuit stems from Coinbase’s efforts to obtain documents related to the FDIC’s alleged involvement in discouraging banks from engaging with cryptocurrency firms.
Coinbase’s Chief Legal Officer, Paul Grewal, put to rest expectations that the two parties could reach an agreement outside of court. While he states that cooperation has improved under Hill’s leadership, it is still not enough for a solution.
“We’re asking the Court to resume our lawsuit because the FDIC has unfortunately stopped sharing information,” Grewal told Terrett. “While we would have loved to resolve this outside of the legal system – and we do appreciate the increased cooperation we’ve seen from the new FDIC leadership – we still have a ways to go to get to the kind of transparency the American people deserve. We won’t stop pressing until we get there.”
The FDIC is expected to respond to Coinbase’s motion within two weeks. If the court lifts the litigation stay, the case could set a precedent for how federal agencies handle transparency in the cryptocurrency sector.
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