SEC asks court for four months to produce documents for Coinbase

Lawyers for the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requested that a court allow them until February 2025 to produce “hundreds of thousands of documents” as part of discovery proceedings with crypto exchange Coinbase.

In a Sept. 18 filing in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, the SEC asked a federal judge to grant the commission a four-month extension to complete discovery with Coinbase. The regulator was initially expected to produce documents on Oct. 18. However, Coinbase partially won a motion to compel discovery, leading to the SEC being required to provide information on its application of securities laws for tokens.

“[…] the SEC is undertaking a review of at least 133,582 unique documents,” said the filing. “The requested extension will provide the SEC the necessary time to comply with the Court’s Order.”

If granted by Judge Katherine Failla, the SEC could have until Feb. 18 to produce documents related to fact discovery. Expert discovery, including depositions and related documents, could have a deadline of April 22. The timeline suggested that should the parties move forward with a jury trial, it would not happen until 2025.

Crypto in courtrooms and congressional hearings

While courts are litigating crypto exchanges’ activities, US lawmakers are considering the role the SEC should play in regulating digital assets. Members of the House Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology and Inclusion met on Sept. 18 to consider whether the SEC had a “politicized approach” to crypto under Chair Gary Gensler.

Related: Prager Metis to pay $745K to settle SEC charges over FTX audit misconduct

The SEC’s lawsuit against Coinbase is one of many the regulator has pursued in which it alleged exchanges were offering and selling tokens as unregistered securities. In 2024, a judge ruled Ripple Labs was liable to the SEC for $125 million after a three-year court battle, and Terraform Labs agreed to pay more than $4 billion to settle with the regulator.

There are ongoing enforcement cases against Binance, Kraken, and other firms. It’s unclear whether a change in SEC leadership following the 2024 US election would significantly impact matters in court.

Magazine: Godzilla vs. Kong: SEC faces fierce battle against crypto’s legal firepower