Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield is dragging Coinbase back into the same legal brawl the SEC already walked away from. Dan, a Democrat, officially told the exchange that his office is filing charges that accuse Coinbase of running an unlicensed securities exchange and broker-dealer.
On top of that, he’s saying the company’s staking program is an illegal securities offering. All of this is exactly what the federal government just gave up on two months ago.
The original SEC case was dropped with prejudice, meaning they can’t ever bring it back, and it was because of efforts in Washington to build new national crypto rules and the launch of a Crypto Task Force .
Coinbase says Oregon is wasting taxpayer money
Paul Grewal, the Chief Legal Officer at Coinbase, posted a response on X saying the entire thing is a recycled federal lawsuit. “Today the Oregon Attorney General is resurrecting the dead by bringing a copycat case of the SEC’s enforcement action against Coinbase,” Paul wrote. “As a reminder, the SEC dismissed that case with prejudice.”
He said this wasn’t some coincidence. Dan’s office confirmed to them they’re continuing where Gary left off. “Seriously,” Paul wrote. “This is exactly the opposite of what Americans should be focused on right now.”
Paul slammed the lawsuit as a political stunt and said it’s not doing anything for people in Oregon. “This type of political jockeying is an embarrassing waste of Oregon taxpayer dollars,” he wrote. He also said it’s not just a legal rerun—it’s hurting national policy.
“Bipartisan momentum has never been stronger to pass comprehensive federal legislation for crypto,” Paul said. “And this backward lawsuit does nothing to protect consumers or solidify American leadership.”
He said everyone already knows the last war against crypto failed. “The war against crypto waged by the previous SEC and its allies is over—crypto won,” Paul wrote. “The SEC finally caught up with the reality that the vast majority of crypto assets are not securities—and that there is widespread public support for this revolutionary technology.”
But Paul said Dan refuses to accept that. He said Oregon is dragging up arguments that were already dismissed and have been proven wrong again and again.
“These hand-me-down arguments are years out of date and defy public opinion, technological progress, and good governance,” Paul said. “Let there be no doubt: Oregon’s lawsuit, like the SEC’s, is meritless, and Coinbase will do whatever is required to beat it.”
But he also warned that lawsuits like this come with a price. Paul said this move from Dan “directly undermines constructive policymaking happening in DC.” He pointed out that both Democrats and Republicans in Congress are finally working on laws that would give clear rules for crypto. Oregon, instead of waiting for that, is trying to go rogue.
“Yet instead of waiting for Democrats and Republicans in Congress to enact clear rules of the road,” Paul wrote, “Oregon has taken it upon itself to try to regulate a worldwide industry through enforcement.”
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