Crypto Critic, Advocacy Group Amend Campaign Finance Complaint Against Coinbase

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Julia Smith

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Julia Smith

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Julia is an experienced editor with a passion for covering a wide variety of beats. She loves all things politics and regularly covers regulatory updates on emerging technology here for Crypto News.

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Last updated: 

August 6, 2024

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Crypto critic Molly White and Public Citizen researcher Rick Claypool filed an amended complaint against Coinbase on August 1 for allegedly breaking campaign finance laws amid pushback from the crypto exchange’s Chief Legal Office Paul Grewal.

Crypto Critic Molly White Amends Coinbase Campaign Finance Law Complaint

According to the complaint, the crypto exchange donated over $25 million to Fairshake, a crypto-friendly super PAC established by key players in the digital asset industry, between March and May 2024. During that time, however, Coinbase purportedly negotiated a contract with the United States Marshals Service, which is designated as a federal agency.

According to White, the contract involved Coibase’s ability “to provide custody and trading services for the cryptocurrencies seized during law enforcement investigations.” The crypto exchange “ultimately won” that contract on July 1 of this year.

Last week, @Public_Citizen’s @RickClaypool and I filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission based on my research into apparent campaign finance violations by the Coinbase cryptocurrency exchange.

Read the full complaint  and my updated article. pic.twitter.com/F6fK5fvxXT

— Molly White (@molly0xFFF) August 5, 2024

“In making these contributions of approximately $25.5 million, Coinbase violated federal campaign finance laws that expressly prohibit federal contractors from making contributions to political committees while negotiating or performing federal contracts,” the complaint stated.

Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal Pushes Back Against Claims

However, Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal fired back at White and Claypool’s filing, labeling it “misinformation” given that the crypto company “is not a federal contractor.”

“We remain committed to playing a trusted role for the U.S. Marshals Service’s cryptocurrency services requirement, which is funded by the sale of assets forfeited to the DOJ’s Assets Forfeiture Fund – not congressionally appropriated tax dollars,” Grewal said.

In White and Claypool’s amended August 5 filing, however, the pair doubled down against Grewal’s positioning on the digital asset-related matter.

“Since the Assets Forfeiture Fund is a Congressional appropriation, Coinbase was paid for the performance of a contract from funds appropriated by the Congress, and is thus a federal contractor,” it read.

Grewal has since responded to the freshly updated document, calling it a “press release by another name.”

“Very simply, the world view these researchers espouse in this document is not the law, as much as they wish it was,” he continued.

“Coinbase has donated to Dem and GOP super PACs equally with $500K to House and Senate funds for each party, respectively, for 2024,” Grewal further noted. “White and Public Citizen appear to want to report a political bias which does not exist.”

“I look forward to the FEC enforcing its longstanding prohibitions against “pay-to-play,” White has since said of Grewal’s statement.