The SEC settles with Coinbase over its missing Gary Gensler texts

Policy The SEC settles with Coinbase over its missing Gary Gensler texts A new court status report reveals the agency will pay a flat fee to resolve a two-year fight over what former Chair Gary Gensler knew about Ethereum. By Olivier Acuna | Edited by Jamie Crawley Jul 23, 2026, 3:36 p.m. 2 min read Make preferred on Share Share this article Copy link X icon X (Twitter) LinkedIn Facebook Email Make preferred on Brian Armstrong, Coinbase CEO, said the SEC settlement agreement is a huge win for crypto. (Jesse Hamilton/CoinDesk) Summary Show The Securities and Exchange Commission agreed to pay $150,000 and produce remaining records to settle a FOIA lawsuit over its investigations into Ethereum. History Associates Inc., working on behalf of Coinbase, had sued in June 2024 after the SEC failed to fully respond to records requests about Ethereum’s shift to proof-of-stake and earlier crypto enforcement actions. The case, which forced the SEC to turn over thousands of documents and revealed the deletion of texts and data from phones of top officials including Gary Gensler, will be dismissed once final production is complete. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) agreed to pay $150,000 to settle a federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit over its investigations into Ethereum, according to a joint status report filed July 22. History Associates Inc. and the SEC asked the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to dismiss the case after reaching a settlement deal. Under the agreement, the agency will produce the remaining responsive documents and pay the flat fee to cover the plaintiff's legal fees. History Associates, which provides professional historical research, writing and archival services to government agencies, filed the lawsuit in June 2024 . Working on behalf of Coinbase, the firm had submitted three public records requests the year before. Those filings sought documents on SEC investigations into Zachary Coburn and Enigma MPC, along with records on how Ethereum shifted to a proof-of-stake system. The lawsuit compelled the SEC to hand over thousands of documents, with the court explicitly ordering the agency to prioritize all records and communications sent, received or evaluated by then SEC Chair Gary Gensler concerning Ethereum's migration from a proof-of-work blockchain to a proof-of-stake network. The document fight stalled in September 2025 as the SEC’s Inspector General reported that the agency accidentally deleted Gary Gensler’s text messages from October 2022 to September 2023. Later court updates showed the agency wiped 21 phones belonging to top officials, of which five belonged to the same staff members targeted in the Coinbase case. The SEC told the National Archives about the deleted phones in July 2025. Brian Armstrong, Coinbase CEO tied the ruling it to an FDIC case around buried evidence during the 2023 banking crisis. “The Gensler SEC deleted texts at the height of the anti-crypto campaign, FDIC buried evidence - it was all uncovered after we fought to expose the truth,” he wrote in a post on X . “This is not only for us, but for every American and every American company expecting transparency and accountability from the government.” The dismissal brings to a close more than two years of litigation over the document requests. Once the SEC completes production of the remaining records, the case will be formally dismissed. Coinbase SEC Ethereum News Latest Crypto News 1 Crypto for Advisors: It’s time for tokenization to get to work 1 hour ago 2 Uniswap pushes deeper into tokenized assets with permissioned trading pools 2 hours ago 3 Goldman Sachs CEO backs Clarity Act despite banking industry's concerns over stablecoin rules 2 hours ago 4 The KIDS Act is way worse than digital carding — it is a mass surveillance system 3 hours ago 5 BlackRock, Coinbase, Strategy in a new group pledging $15 million to prepare Bitcoin for quantum threats 3 hours ago 6 Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Capital joins tokenization push as Coinbase takes stake in onchain fund 4 hours ago 7 Polymarket to challenge France’s nationwide website block 4 hours ago 8 Bulls face a test unlike anything in bitcoin's 17-year history 4 hours ago 9 Crypto catches its breath as bitcoin settles into a holding pattern amid July rally 5 hours ago 10 Live markets: Bitcoin slides as stocks slump on Iran war expansion, AI spending concern 6 hours ago Latest Research Crypto Flows, Share and the Selective Rotation Crypto Flows, Share and the Selective Rotation Markets repositioned since June, but Binance held share (~55% user funds, ~24% spot) and drew net inflows in early July while the tracked market saw outflows. By CoinDesk Research Jul 22, 2026 Markets repositioned since June, but Binance held share (~55% user funds, ~24% spot) and drew net inflows in early July while the tracked market saw outflows. Why it matters: Markets repositioned since June, but Binance held share (~55% user funds, ~