The case mirrors the SEC lawsuit dismissed in February 2025.
Dan Rayfield, Oregon’s attorney general, brought suit against Coinbase, a cryptocurrency exchange, claiming breaches of the state’s securities laws.Coinbase is alleged to have breached established regulatory standards by permitting people from Oregon to trade unlicensed digital assets, as outlined in the case’s accusations.
Multnomah County Circuit Court became the venue where Coinbase faced their lawsuit that accused them of allowing unsafe investments through their platform without proper consumer safeguards.
A state legal case cites the Internet Computer Protocol (ICP) cryptocurrency as an example since it fell dramatically from $700 to around $7 per token after Coinbase added it to its exchange. The lawsuit uses the 99% price reduction of the assets to prove that Coinbase enables trading of unregistered securities.
As the top U.S. cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase maintains control over token additions and executes trades while promoting digital assets to its users. According to Oregon’s legal argument, these exchange activities require unregistered securities that generate potential risks through fraudulent market manipulation techniques, including pump-and-dump schemes.
Lawsuits against Coinbase began in February 2025 when the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) withdrew its rival case. Even before this denial of service, the SEC had charged Coinbase with permitting the trade of thirteen tokens that it claimed ought to have been classified as securities.
The Oregon state lawsuit claims Coinbase users faced dangerous market volatility because the exchange did not provide required disclosures to its customers. The state wants Coinbase to pay financial compensation to investors while pushing for stronger consumer protection standards.
Coinbase Rejects Oregon’s Claims
Paul Grewal, chief legal officer of Coinbase, responded to the lawsuit brought by the state of Oregon by saying that the legal challenge was just a rehash of the SEC’s failed case. Since the SEC had already dismissed the matter with prejudice, rendering any effort to re-file it unacceptable, Grewal contended that the lawsuit was a fruitless use of state resources.
Coinbase stands with its position that digital currencies fall under the classification of digital commodities instead of financial securities. The company declared it would fight Oregon’s allegations with determination since its operations abide by all existing regulatory standards. Grewal expressed his critique against the state for taking enforcement measures rather than establishing proper regulatory frameworks for cryptocurrency businesses.
The legal dispute takes place during active discussions about cryptocurrency oversight. The Trump administration allowed the SEC to exercise gentler enforcement against cryptocurrency platforms Coinbase and Kraken. The legal action in Oregon demonstrates an increasing disagreement between state-based and federal leadership in digital asset oversight.
The state’s legal filing demonstrates how investors lost money because Coinbase earned transaction fees while Oregonians incurred substantial financial damage. The document mentions the Internet Computer Protocol (ICP) as a particular example where the SEC had noted market value declines after Coinbase listing produced billions in investor losses.
The Department of Justice in Oregon presents the lawsuit as a strategy to defend consumers from uncontrolled market operations. The state maintains that Coinbase enables cryptocurrency listings and promotion activities, which create dangerous trading conditions that lack proper regulatory protection systems.
State Acts Amid Federal Inaction
The lawsuit serves as Rayfield’s office’s required response to federal authorities’ insufficient regulatory oversight. After the SEC dropped its case while moving its main attorney to another IT position, Oregon felt compelled to act on its own because of the resulting regulatory gap.
The legal complaint presents a 171-page document that outlines how Coinbase operates its platform between buyers and sellers by managing funds and executing unregistered security trades. Oregon believes these investment practices break state securities regulations because such offerings require proper registration with public disclosure requirements.
Despite the ongoing legal situation, the cryptocurrency exchange maintained its operations in Oregon and was unaffected because it stands firm on following all legal requirements. The exchange used multiple federal court rulings, including Judge Failla’s approval of mid-case appeals in the SEC’s lawsuit to build its defense.