The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has agreed to pay $150,000 and submit the remaining documents to settle a federal information disclosure lawsuit concerning Ethereum investigation records. According to a joint status report filed on July 22, the case will be formally dismissed once the documents are delivered.
The lawsuit focuses on the Ethereum investigation record.
The lawsuit was filed in June 2024 by History Associates, who, representing Coinbase, requested the SEC to provide records related to Ethereum's transition to a proof-of-stake mechanism and early crypto enforcement actions. The lawsuit was based on the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
Coinbase had previously filed three public record requests concerning the SEC's investigation into Zachary Coburn and Enigma MPC, as well as internal discussions and documents related to Ethereum's transition from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake.
The court ordered priority delivery of relevant documents.
The court subsequently ordered the SEC to prioritize records relating to then-Chairman Gary Gensler, including communications and documents he sent, received, or reviewed concerning changes to the Ethereum consensus mechanism. During the case's proceedings, the SEC has submitted thousands of documents.
- The settlement amount was $150,000.
- The SEC still needs to submit the remaining response documents.
- The case will be withdrawn once the documents are delivered.
Deletion of text messages and mobile phone data has drawn attention.
The case stalled in September 2025 because the SEC Inspector General reported that the agency had mistakenly deleted Gary Gensler's text message records from October 2022 to September 2023.
Subsequent court documents revealed that the SEC deleted data from 21 senior officials' phones, five of which belonged to individuals involved in the Coinbase case. The SEC notified the National Archives of these deleted phones in July 2025.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong stated on social media platform X that this case exposes the problem of regulators deleting or covering up records during a peak in crypto enforcement. He also compared this matter to the evidence dispute involving the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) during the 2023 banking crisis.
