Oregon To ‘Resurrect’ SEC’s Crypto Regulation By Enforcement With ‘Copycat’ Lawsuit Against Coinbase

Crypto exchange Coinbase revealed that Oregon’s Attorney General plans to file a lawsuit similar to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)’s dismissed case. According to the exchange, Oregon is reportedly trying to revive the US regulator’s long-criticized “regulation by enforcement” approach.

Coinbase To Face New Lawsuit In Oregon

On Friday, Coinbase’s Chief Legal Officer, Paul Grewal, shared that Oregon’s Attorney General will file a securities enforcement action against the crypto exchange on April 18.

According to the blog post, the Attorney General’s “copycat case” is “asserting the same stale, repeatedly refuted theories that the SEC rightly disavowed (with prejudice) when it dismissed its case against Coinbase.”

Grewal slammed the Oregon Attorney General’s decision, stating, “These hand-me-down arguments are years out of date and defy public opinion, technological progress, and good governance.”

For context, the SEC sued the crypto exchange in 2023, alleging that the platform was an unregistered securities exchange. The Commission argued that Coinbase operated as an unregistered broker-dealer and illegally sold unregistered securities through its staking program.

Nonetheless, the regulatory agency dismissed the lawsuit in February 2025, following the departure of the SEC’s former chairman, Gary Gensler, and the new regulatory approach. Under the pro-industry Trump administration, the Commission, led by acting chair Mark Uyeda, has dismissed multiple crypto litigations and investigations, including Gemini, Binance, Uniswap Labs, and Robinhood.

Similarly, Coinbase was sued in June 2023 by 10 US state regulators, including Alabama, California, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, South Carolina, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.

The multi-state task force accused the crypto exchange of violating securities law by offering its staking rewards program. After the SEC’s case dismissal, three states have also dropped their lawsuits.

Crypto Legislation A Top Priority

In an X threat, the CLO stated that the Attorney General’s office “made it clear” that they are “literally picking up where the Gary Gensler SEC left off,” which he considers an “embarrassing waste of Oregon taxpayer dollars.” He also assured customers that Coinbase is prepared to fight as “Oregon’s lawsuit, like the SEC’s, is meritless.”

Grewal asserted that the industry won the “war against crypto waged by the previous SEC and its allies,” as the regulatory agency “finally caught up with the reality that the vast majority of digital assets are not securities —and that there is widespread public support for this revolutionary technology.”

He added in the blog post that Oregon’s campaign does nothing to move the conversation forward. Instead, it takes two steps back from the recent progress and the “constructive policymaking happening in DC.”

Bipartisan momentum has never been stronger to pass comprehensive federal legislation for digital assets—legislation that would enable domestic crypto businesses to thrive while preventing rogue state governments from bringing politically motivated actions against crypto firms. Yet instead of waiting for Democrats and Republicans in Congress to enact clear rules of the road, Oregon has taken it upon itself to try to regulate a worldwide industry through enforcement.

Coinbase’s Chief Policy Officer (CPO), Faryar Shirzad, has previously called for clear crypto legislation to prevent “rogue attacks” on the industry, urging the US Congress to act now and unlock the industry’s potential in the US.