SEC Pays $150K to Coinbase Following Dispute Over Vanished Text Communications
A $150,000 settlement between the SEC and Coinbase concludes legal action concerning disappeared agency records, notably including text messages from ex-Chair Gary Gensler that were erased.
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission has committed to paying $150,000 in attorney fees as part of settling a legal challenge brought by Coinbase that demanded internal documentation from the regulatory body during the peak of the Biden administration's SEC enforcement push against cryptocurrency firms.
Court documents submitted on Wednesday bring to a close a litigation battle spanning two years between the SEC and Coinbase, during which the digital currency platform pursued access to confidential agency materials in an effort to reveal proof of "crypto by enforcement" tactics. A 2025 internal investigation disclosed that the SEC had erased close to an entire year's worth of text message communications involving previous SEC Chair Gary Gensler as a result of errors that could have been prevented.
"The agency tasked with policing corporate record-keeping somehow lost reams of its own text messages between Mr. Gensler and other officials during the most intense period of the anti-crypto campaign,"
Paul Grewal, Coinbase chief legal officer, in an op-ed published by the Wall Street Journal
According to Grewal, the SEC has agreed to provide a $150,000 "award" in addition to implementing corrections to its procedures for maintaining records.
This settlement represents yet another courtroom win for Coinbase during the Trump administration era. Under Paul Atkins' direction, the SEC has adopted a significantly more accommodating stance toward cryptocurrency enterprises and abandoned multiple prominent enforcement proceedings against digital asset businesses, including the case against Coinbase, throughout 2025.
During February, Coinbase successfully negotiated a resolution with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which resulted in the FDIC committing to pay $188,440 to cover legal expenses and making modifications to certain transparency protocols following a federal court determination that the agency had failed to comply with the Freedom of Information Act.
"The years of litigation were worth it. We successfully uncovered dozens of crypto 'pause letters'—indisputable proof of OCP2.0 and the coordinated effort to sideline the industry,"
Paul Grewal in an X post in February
Grewal to transition from chief legal officer
Paul Grewal, who has occupied the position of Coinbase's chief legal officer beginning in 2020, will be moving into an advisory capacity at the cryptocurrency exchange effective July 31, while Coinbase legal vice presidents Molly Abraham and Ryan VanGrack are scheduled to assume the positions of general counsel and vice chair, in that order.