Overview

• In a Sept. 16–17 letter, Coinbase asked the Justice Department to challenge state enforcement efforts and to endorse preemption in pending market-structure bills.
• The company points to Oregon’s April lawsuit over alleged unregistered securities and New York’s bid to treat Ethereum as a security as examples of conflicting approaches.
• Coinbase says immediate cease-and-desist orders on its staking services in California, Maryland, New Jersey, and Wisconsin were issued without prior hearings and disrupted operations.
• The filing also cites Maine’s investigatory demand to identify recipients of transfers to unhosted wallets as a threat to user privacy and self-custody.
• Coinbase is pushing to move the Oregon case into federal court, while legal experts say states risk violating the dormant Commerce Clause and due process, and note DOJ backing could significantly shift federal–state authority.