Coinbase—SEC sued Coinbase for operating as unregistered exchange; case dropped after $76M in political donations
On June 6, 2023, the SEC filed suit against Coinbase alleging it violated federal securities laws by operating as an unregistered exchange, broker, and clearing agency, and by offering unregistered securities through its staking program. In March 2024, a federal court rejected nearly all of Coinbase's challenges. However, after Coinbase donated over $75M to Fairshake PAC supporting pro-crypto candidates and $1M to Trump's 2025 inauguration fund, the SEC dropped the case on February 21, 2025 under the new Trump-appointed SEC leadership, raising regulatory capture concerns.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corporate Governance | -against | secondary | -0.50 |
| Regulatory Capture | +toward | primary | -1.00 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.765 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (critical ×2) × confidence (0.68)× agency (reactive ×0.75)
Evidence (2 signals)
SEC dropped enforcement case against Coinbase in February 2025 under new Trump-appointed leadership
On February 21, 2025, the SEC announced it was dropping its case against Coinbase, with SEC agreeing 'in principle' to dismiss. This came after Coinbase donated $75M+ to Fairshake PAC and $1M to Trump's inauguration, and after SEC Chair Gensler resigned following the Trump administration change.
SEC filed enforcement action against Coinbase for operating as unregistered exchange, broker, and clearing agency
On June 6, 2023, the SEC sued Coinbase alleging violations of federal securities laws by operating as an unregistered exchange, broker, and clearing agency in connection with 13 specific crypto assets, and for offering unregistered securities through its staking program. In March 2024, a federal court rejected nearly all of Coinbase's challenges.