In a July 31 report, prominent cryptocurrency skeptic Molly White claimed that Coinbase's donation to the Fairshake crypto super PAC while it was actively negotiating a contract with the federal government appeared to violate campaign finance laws. Paul Grewal, Coinbase's chief legal officer, called the allegations "misinformation" and said Coinbase was not a federal contractor and was therefore exempt from certain campaign finance regulations under the "literal language" clause of Code of Federal Regulations 111.51.