The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) agreed to pay $150,000 to settle a federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit over its investigations into Ethereum, according to a joint status report filed on July 22.
History Associates Inc. and the SEC asked the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to dismiss the case after entering into a settlement agreement. Under the agreement, the agency will produce the remaining response documents and pay the flat fee to cover the plaintiff’s legal fees.
History Associates, which provides professional historical research, writing and archiving services to government agencies, filed the suit in June 2024. On behalf of Coinbase, the firm had submitted three public records requests the year before. Those filings sought documents about SEC investigations of Zachary Coburn and Enigma MPC, along with records about how Ethereum switched to a proof-of-stake system.
The lawsuit forced the SEC to hand over thousands of documents, with the court specifically ordering the agency to prioritize all records and communications sent, received or reviewed by then-SEC Chairman Gary Gensler regarding Ethereum’s migration from a proof-of-work blockchain to a proof-of-stake network.
