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In line with court docket papers filed on Tuesday, Coinbase has pushed again onerous towards the Federal Deposit Insurance coverage Company’s newest bid to toss out its Freedom of Info Act lawsuit.
The change desires extra particulars about so-called “pause letters” that the FDIC allegedly despatched to banks, telling them to step away from crypto providers. Now, Coinbase is asking a decide to power the FDIC to clarify below oath the way it dealt with these data and at hand over all FOIA denial letters issued between 2020 and 2024.
Experiences Shed Gentle On Pause Letters
Primarily based on studies, the FDIC first utilized a broad exemption to cover the letters as “confidential financial institution examination data.” It paid no thoughts to sorting info from evaluation.
Coinbase notes that it took 4 court docket orders and 6 separate doc productions for the regulator to cough up the important thing recordsdata. That drawn-out course of, the change argues, reveals that the company nonetheless “stonewalls our efforts to shed mild” on previous strikes that focused crypto.
Coinbase’s Chief Authorized Officer, Paul Grewal, wrote on X that the FDIC employees “proceed to stonewall our efforts” and that these ways “can’t and gained’t stand.”
We additionally filed a movement to take further discovery from the FDIC to resolve their FOIA practices, which as we’ve seen in our case are removed from what the regulation requires. The company ought to testify through a 30(b)(6) deposition and produce the letters it sends to FOIA…
— paulgrewal.eth (@iampaulgrewal) July 31, 2025
FDIC Procedures Beneath Evaluate
Experiences have disclosed that inner FDIC coverage tells examiners to withhold any doc pertaining to Exemption 8 in full, with “no obligation to segregate factual from analytical or deliberative materials.”
In a January listening to, regulators admitted they’d no formal litigation-hold course of for FOIA requests. The preliminary search additionally targeted solely on paperwork shared with the company’s Workplace of Inspector Basic.
That slim scope meant vital emails and memos—ones that point out “pause letters” instantly—had been missed at first.
Banking Entry Takes Hit
In line with an AIMA survey, 75% of crypto funds wrestle to get primary banking providers. That squeeze on banking companions has snarled transactions and settlement choices for companies like Coinbase.
Banks are actually cautious of any trace of regulatory threat. If the court docket orders extra sworn testimony, it may shine a lightweight on who actually signed off on the “pause letters,” and why examiners thought they needed to conceal a lot.
In its movement for additional discovery, Coinbase additionally desires each FOIA denial letter the FDIC despatched over a four-year stretch. It’s asking for sworn statements from FDIC officers about how they determined which data to maintain secret.
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