In a turn of events, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has asked a court to extend the deadline to complete disclosure requirements in its lawsuit against Coinbase. The extension aims to delay the deadline by four months, setting a novel date after the U.S. election.
SEC requests extension of disclosure deadline
On Wednesday, the Securities and Exchange Commission required extension of the deadline 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 of the deadline to amend the previously entered Civil Case Management Plan and Scheduling Order.
The document said the defendants agreed to an extension of time, adding that neither party requested an extension of time to complete fact-finding in the SEC v. Coinbase lawsuit.
US SEC requests deadline extension. Source: Court Listener
The SEC said it had made extensive efforts in its disclosure process, creating hundreds of thousands of documents to comply. However, it argued that the court also ordered the U.S. regulator to review additional documents “in its ruling on defendants’ motion to compel.”
The order required review of numerous novel documents after entering into an agreement with Coinbase on the terms of “searching and reviewing potentially relevant materials.” As such, the SEC believes that a four-month extension of time will provide the necessary time to comply with the order.
Under the agreement, the SEC is conducting a review of 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 (recognizing the potential need to expand the fact-finding process).
The extension would move the deadline from 18 October 2024 to 18 February 2025, which would also affect subsequent deadlines in this case. As a result, the letter also requests that the deadlines affected be extended by four months, respectively.
Coinbase Continues Fight With US Regulators
What’s more, Coinbase CLO Paul Grewal recently informed the community about his Freedom Of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). In the post, Grewal stated that there has been progress in sending “stop letters” to financial institutions, “suggesting” that they have deprived cryptocurrency companies of bank access.
The Coinbase CLO also explained that the court issued an order to release the “Vaughn Index,” which is “a kind of FOIA privilege log.” For Grewal, this is an critical step for the cryptocurrency community: “We’re going to inch our way to the truth about Chokepoint 2.0,” he said.
Coinbase CLO gives update on FOIA suit agaisnt the FDIC. Source: Paul Grewal on X
Lawyer James Murphy, known as MetaLawMan, suggested that putting more pressure on regulators is great news because it would make it harder for “the administration to maintain its position that there is no such thing as #OperationChokepoint2.0.”
Many in the community agreed with this view, expressing their frustration with U.S. regulators. Murphy also criticized the U.S. Congress for “not doing its job,” ultimately questioning why “a public company needs to perform Congress’s oversight function.”
COIN is trading at $171.82 in the weekly chart. Source: COIN on TradingView
Featured image from Unsplash.com, chart from TradingView.com
