Coinbase is facing hurdles in its attempts to gather information from the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests. The cryptocurrency exchange believes that the FDIC has not been cooperative in providing details about “pause letters,” which are requests made to banks to freeze crypto services.
Paul Grewal, the chief legal officer at Coinbase, has alleged that these pause letters are part of what is being referred to as “Operation Choke Point 2.0,” an initiative by government regulators to hinder the growth of the crypto industry under the Biden Administration. To uncover more information about these letters, Coinbase enlisted the help of the law firm History Associates, which filed a motion in January seeking intervention from a federal court.
In response to the motion, the court temporarily halted the FDIC’s deadline to respond to History Associates’ amended FOIA complaint to facilitate an informal information-sharing process between the two parties. However, Coinbase’s legal representatives have expressed frustration over the FDIC’s lack of cooperation in providing the requested information, specifically regarding the regulator’s search practices and document preservation.
A recent motion filed by History Associates indicates that the FDIC is unwilling to cooperate with the FOIA requests, prompting the law firm to push for the case to resume and move towards litigation. In a separate development, the FDIC released redacted documents related to its oversight of crypto-related activities, including pause letters sent to 24 banks. House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer has since requested unredacted copies of these documents from FDIC Acting Chairman Travis Hill.
As the legal battle between Coinbase and the FDIC continues, the cryptocurrency exchange remains committed to uncovering the truth behind the regulator’s actions. Stay updated on this developing story by following us on X, Facebook, and Telegram. Don’t miss out on important updates by subscribing to our email alerts. Keep track of price action and explore more content on The Daily Hodl Mix.
The information in this article is based on the original content from Midjourney.