Coinbase urges DOJ to establish uniform crypto oversight amid state-level conflicts

Coinbase sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice requesting federal regulators to preempt state regulations conflicting with national crypto policies and establish uniform regulatory clarity.

Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal said in the letter that crypto companies are being adversely affected by fragmented state-level regulations that use "novel, expansive and flawed" interpretations of securities laws, despite positive regulatory efforts made by the Trump administration.

"When Oregon can sue us for services that are legal under federal law, something's broken," Grewal wrote in a post on social media platform X. "It's been obvious for a long time that the current patchwork of state laws isn't just inefficient — it slows innovation and harms consumers."

Grewal's social media post refers to Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield's securities enforcement action against Coinbase in April, alleging that the crypto exchange encouraged the sale of unregistered crypto assets to people in Oregon.

The lawsuit emerged despite the SEC's dismissal in February of its case against Coinbase, which had accused the exchange of operating as an unregistered broker, exchange, and clearing agency.

Oregon's Rayfield stated at the time that states need to "fill the enforcement vacuum being left by federal regulators who are giving up under the new administration and abandoning these important cases."

"The Department should take steps to fix these pressing problems by urging Congress to step in and enact broad preemption provisions," Grewal wrote in the letter, adding that pending crypto legislations, such as the CLARITY Act and the Responsible Financial Innovation Act of 2025, pose an opportunity to address the issue.

Meanwhile, Coinbase moved to elevate the Oregon case to a federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon in June and filed a state court suit against Governor Tina Kotek on July 10.