The US Securities and Exchange Commission has agreed to pay Coinbase $150,000 in legal fees to resolve a lawsuit over internal agency records tied to the regulator’s crypto enforcement campaign during the Biden era. The deal closes a two-year dispute in which Coinbase sought SEC documents it said could shed light on what it described as “crypto by enforcement.”

Records fight ends

Coinbase brought the case in an effort to obtain internal SEC materials from the period when the agency was pursuing an aggressive posture toward the crypto industry. The exchange argued that the records could help reveal how the regulator approached enforcement actions against digital asset firms.

The settlement brings that records battle to an end, with the SEC agreeing to cover $150,000 in legal fees. Coinbase chief legal officer Paul Grewal said the payment was an “award” tied to the resolution of the case.

Missing messages at the center

The dispute drew added attention after an internal report in 2025 found that the SEC had deleted nearly a year of text messages from former Chair Gary Gensler because of what the report called “avoidable” errors. The missing messages covered a period Coinbase has characterized as the most intense phase of the agency’s anti-crypto campaign.

Grewal criticized the lapse, saying the regulator responsible for overseeing corporate record-keeping had itself lost extensive text communications between Gensler and other officials. He also said the SEC has since corrected its record-retention policies.

Political and regulatory backdrop

The case unfolded against a broader shift in Washington’s approach to crypto oversight. The article describes the settlement as another legal win for Coinbase under the Trump administration, during which the SEC has adopted a more crypto-friendly stance under Chair Paul Atkins.

According to the report, the agency dropped several high-profile enforcement actions against crypto companies in 2025, including its case against Coinbase. That change marked a sharp contrast with the earlier period when the company was trying to obtain internal records related to the SEC’s enforcement strategy.

What the settlement means

The agreement does not add new findings beyond those already disclosed in the internal report, but it formally closes a lawsuit that centered on transparency, record preservation, and the SEC’s handling of communications during a key period for US crypto regulation. Coinbase has framed the outcome as evidence that its challenge exposed weaknesses in the agency’s document retention practices.

In context, the settlement links a relatively modest legal-fee payment to a larger debate over how US regulators handled crypto oversight, and whether internal communications from that period were properly preserved.

Source: cointelegraph.com