Coinbase, SEC Reach Agreement to Dismiss Lawsuit

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has reached an agreement to dismiss its lawsuit against crypto exchange Coinbase, pending approval by the regulator, according to the firm’s CEO Brian Armstrong.

In a tweet, Armstrong said that the agreement was “hugely vindicating,” accusing the regulator of having used “mafia tactics” while pursuing its lawsuit against the exchange.

Great news!

After years of litigation, millions of your taxpayer dollars spent, and irreparable harm done to the country, we reached an agreement with SEC staff to dismiss their litigation against Coinbase. Once approved by the Commission (which we’re told to expect next week)… pic.twitter.com/IlnoBs7N6n

— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) February 21, 2025

Armstrong added that the SEC was “wrong on the law,” and that its actions “could have killed the crypto industry in America.”

Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal tweeted that “there will be no settlement or compromise– a wrong will simply be made right.”

The SEC’s lawsuit against Coinbase

In June 2023, after having issued a Wells notice earlier that year, the SEC filed its complaint spanning more than 100 pages. The lawsuit, filed in the Southern District of New York, alleged that Coinbase knowingly operated an unregistered securities exchange for a decade.

At the time, the allegations landed just days after the SEC filed a similar suit against Binance.

Armstrong accused the SEC of “exceeding the authority given to them by congress by asking us to delist a number of assets that were not securities,” arguing that the exchange had taken a “conservative approach” to ensure that it had not listed securities. “We tried to “come in and register” but it turned out it was a fake offer, as every crypto company discovered,” he added.

This is a breaking story and will be updated.