Coinbase Urges US Government To Provide Clarity On Crypto Regulations

Coinbase urges the US Government to provide clarity on crypto policy (Photo; Doc. Hostmerchat Services)

JAKARTA - Coinbase, as the largest crypto exchange in the United States, is increasingly pressing the government to be more transparent in policies related to digital assets. Earlier this week, Coinbase officially submitted several document requests to the Federal Deposit Insurance Commission (FDIC) through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) law, which aims to reveal government policies that are considered still closed to crypto.

Coinbase's move includes two main requests. First, they asked for documents explaining whether there is a limit on the number of digital assets that US banking institutions can have.

Second, they also asked for a list of all FOIA requests that have been submitted to the FDIC since early 2022, to check whether many crypto-related requests were rejected by the agency.

Quoted from Decrypt, Paul Grewal, Coinbase's Head of Legal, confirmed that this step was part of the company's efforts to continue demanding clarity from the government on crypto policy. "As long as the government remains opaque, Coinbase will also not back down," he said in a statement on social media.

Coinbase's move is a continuation of their ongoing legal struggle with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Previously, Coinbase had filed a lawsuit against the SEC on the grounds that it was continuing to reject requests for information regarding crypto policy. In some cases, the SEC argued that the disclosure of the document could interfere with their law enforcement efforts.

Coinbase is also involved in a larger legal process to force the SEC to clarify regulations related to digital assets. The case is currently being processed in a federal court in Philadelphia. Coinbase strives for the SEC to immediately issue special rules for the crypto industry, which is still in a gray area legally.

Coinbase's actions have the support of many crypto industry leaders, including Caitlin Long, CEO of Custodia Bank. They considered that the US government's policies regarding digital assets were too closed and did not provide clarity for companies wishing to operate legally.

Long criticized the attitude of the Biden administration for being skeptical of crypto, and called the actions of banking institutions "unauthorized" in suppressing banks serving crypto companies.