Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has challenged a motion by the Securities and Exchange Commission that seeks to block agency Chairman Gary Gensler from “reasonable gathering of evidence” in its ongoing legal battle with the SEC.
“We responded to the SEC’s attempt to block Mr. Gensler’s reasonable pursuit of evidence. This case was brought by the SEC, not Coinbase. Democracy and due process die in the dark. We appreciate the court’s careful consideration of this matter,” Paul Grewal, Coinbase’s chief legal officer, wrote in the letter. post Today at X.
in letter In a filing Wednesday with U.S. District Judge Catherine Failla, Coinbase’s attorneys said the discovery against Gensler was relevant. “Mr. Gensler’s communications about the regulatory status of digital assets and the exchange while he was chairman were central to Coinbase’s fair notice defense,” Coinbase said.
In April, Coinbase filed a request for documents with the SEC, and in June, asked Gensler to produce documents related to communications that Coinbase claimed were relevant to the case. These include documents related to cryptocurrencies from 2017 to the present, covering a period of four years before Gensler is sworn in on April 17, 2021.
The SEC stated: Letter of June 28 The judge said Coinbase had asked Gensler to search his private emails to determine whether he used them to communicate his views on federal securities laws and crypto assets. “The SEC rejects this position and its proposal,” the letter said.
“The subpoena must be directed at the SEC,” the agency said in its filing. “To the extent that it is not, it is an unwarranted invasion of the privacy of a public servant and is based on decisions made by the public servant in the performance of his or her official duties. Furthermore, given the utter lack of relevance to the documents sought and the potential chilling effect on public service, the court should vacate the subpoena and issue a protective order.”
Subpoena Request
Coinbase responded to a judge filing Wednesday saying Gensler’s private emails were a “relevant source of evidence.”
“Mr. Gensler’s private communications regarding the regulatory status of digital assets, as well as what market participants have told him about these matters, demonstrate the public’s and market participants’ objective understanding of conduct prohibited by the securities laws,” Coinbase argued in the letter.
The cryptocurrency exchange also cited Ripple’s case in its filing. “As the court in Ripple found, documents or communications do not need to be disclosed to provide insight into the public’s objective understanding of what a regulator is seeking. Both agency employees’ communications with market participants and inter-agency correspondence are relevant to the ‘fair notice defense,’” Coinbase added.
Last week, Coinbase Two lawsuits were filed The SEC and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation are suing the agency for failing to comply with Freedom of Information Act requirements, and are asking the court to force them to comply.
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