In a twist of events, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has requested an extension from the court for time to complete the fact discovery requirements for the lawsuit against Coinbase. The extension is intended to push back the deadline by four months, with the new date set after the U.S. election.
SEC asks for extension of deadline for fact-finding investigation
On Wednesday, the Securities and Exchange Commission requested an extension of time to complete the fact-finding process in the case against Coinbase Inc. and Coinbase Global Inc. In a letter to Judge Katherine Polk Failla, the U.S. regulator also requested an extension to amend the previously entered Civil Case Management Plan and scheduling order.
The document noted that the defendants had agreed to the extension. It also noted that no party had requested an extension of time to complete the fact-finding in the SEC v. Coinbase lawsuit.
US SEC requests deadline extension. Source: Court Listener
The SEC stated that it had made extensive efforts to discover processproducing hundreds of thousands of documents to meet the requirements. However, it argued that the court also ordered the U.S. regulator to review additional documents “in ruling on defendant’s motion to compel.”
The order resulted in the need to review many new documents following the agreement with Coinbase on the terms for “searching and reviewing potentially relevant material.” Consequently, the SEC believes that extending the deadline by four months will provide the necessary time to comply with said order.
Under the agreement, the SEC will review at least 133,582 unique documents. The requested extension will provide the SEC with the necessary time to comply with the court order. See also ECF No. 161 (recognition of the possible need for an extension of the fact-finding procedure).
The extension would move the deadline from October 18, 2024 to February 18, 2025, which would also impact subsequent deadlines in the case. As a result, the letter also seeks to move the relevant deadlines by four months, respectively.
Coinbase Continues Battle Against US Regulators
In addition, Coinbase’s CLO Paul Grewal recently updated the community on the Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). In an X-post, Grewal stated that progress has been made in sending out “pause letters” to financial institutions “suggesting” they debank crypto companies.
Coinbase’s CLO also explained that the court ordered the surrender of a “Vaughn Index,” which is “a kind of FOIA privilege log.” For Grewal, this represents an important step for the crypto community: “Step by step, we are getting to the truth about Chokepoint 2.0,” he stated.
Coinbase CLO gives update on FOIA suit agaisnt the FDIC. Source: Paul Grewal on X
Attorney James Murphy, known as MetaLawMan, suggested that putting more pressure on regulators was great news because it would make it “harder for the government to take the position that there is no such thing as #OperationChokepoint2.0.”
Many members of the community echoed this sentiment, expressing frustration with U.S. regulators. Murphy also criticized the U.S. Congress for “not doing its job,” ultimately questioning why “a publicly traded company should have to fulfill Congress’s oversight function.”
COIN is trading at $171.82 in the weekly chart. Source: COIN on TradingView
Main image from Unsplash.com, chart from TradingView.com