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H3: Coinbase Dials Up Court for FOIA Files on ETH’s Legal Riddle

Coinbase’s still out here playing crypto detective, pinging the SEC, trying to squeeze answers on how securities law even works in the wild west of Web3. They’re hollering at the U.S. District Court in D.C., hoping the judge throws them a bone—because the SEC’s ghosting their requests for vital files. Tuesday’s move sees Coinbase tap in with History Associates Inc., pushing for a partial summary judgment, a way to pry open some of those dusty old docs the SEC’s been clutching tight.

The ask? All things ETH. Yep, Ethereum’s got Coinbase tangled up in its legal spaghetti because nobody seems to know if this is a commodity, security, or some futuristic chimera. After all, Consensys already threw down in court, claiming the SEC gave a nod to poking around Ethereum 2.0 with their former enforcer-in-chief, Gurbir Grewal, back in March ‘23. That’s where it gets spicy—Coinbase wants to know everything the SEC’s got cooking on ETH.

H3: SEC Hits Snooze Button, Coinbase Isn’t Having It

But here’s the kicker: the SEC’s ducking. At first, they straight-up said FOIA doesn’t even apply, but Coinbase wasn’t about that. Now, the SEC’s like, “Hold up, it’ll take three years to dig through these docs.” Coinbase ain’t buying it. The SEC’s just dragging their feet, re-reviewing stuff they supposedly missed, but somehow they need a three-year breather before getting back to work. “Instead of coughing up documents, now they wanna reboot and look for new ways to block us,” says History Associates in Tuesday’s complaint.

While Coinbase is juggling multiple fronts, their laser focus remains locked on whether Ether fits into the SEC’s antiquated securities matrix. No clear-cut definitions, just more ambiguity for an asset that’s a keystone of DeFi.

H3: Coinbase Dredges Up Two Old Probes

But Coinbase’s nose for SEC tea doesn’t stop at ETH. They’ve also flagged two investigations: Zachary Coburn’s Ether Delta escapades and a little matter with Enigma MPC. Enigma, a once-hot encryption startup, had a brush with the SEC in 2020 for selling tokens deemed securities. As for Coburn, dude built a decentralized exchange the SEC decided needed a registry, so he settled in 2018. Now, Coinbase is on the prowl for anything related to these cases—because every breadcrumb counts when you’re sparring with Goliath.

H3: FDIC “Pause Letters” Under Coinbase’s Lens

On another front, Coinbase threw a FOIA request at the FDIC, sniffing around for their crypto-shutdown playbook—the infamous “pause letters” that apparently circled between March ‘22 and May ‘23. These letters seem to have told some financial institutions to hit the brakes on their crypto ventures. Could this be part of “Operation Choke Point 2.0,” as Coinbase suggests? They’re hunting down receipts while the FDIC’s Inspector General is busy doing…something about it.

With the courtroom ping-pong still in its early innings, Coinbase is waiting for a nod from the judge. If the motion goes through, Coinbase’s legal squad will be ready to crack open the SEC’s vault.