Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield is planning a lawsuit against crypto exchange Coinbase

alleging the company is selling unregistered securities to residents of the US state

Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield is planning a lawsuit against crypto exchange Coinbase (COIN.O), alleging the company is selling unregistered securities to residents of the US state, the Financial Times reported on Monday.

According to Coinbase's chief legal officer, Paul Grewal, the lawsuit is an exact "copycat case" of the US Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) federal case against the exchange, which the federal agency agreed to drop earlier this year. Grewal added:

The lawsuit signals that the crypto industry still faces regulatory hurdles and pushback at the state level, even after securing several legal victories on the federal level. Pushback from state regulators could fragment crypto regulations in the US and complicate cohesive national policy.

Related: Coinbase distances Base from highly criticized memecoin that dumped $15M

Several US states drop lawsuits against Coinbase following SEC moves

The SEC reversed its stance on cryptocurrencies following the resignation of former chairman Gary Gensler in January.

Gensler's exit triggered a wave of dropped lawsuits, enforcement actions and investigations against crypto firms, including Coinbase, Uniswap (CRYPTO:UNI) and Kraken.

Several US states followed the SEC's lead and also dropped their lawsuits against Coinbase in the first quarter of this year.

Vermont, one of the 10 US states that filed litigation against the exchange, dropped its lawsuit on March 13.

The legal order specifically cited the SEC's regulatory pivot and the establishment of a crypto task force by the federal agency as reasons for dropping the lawsuit.

South Carolina dismissed its lawsuit against Coinbase two weeks later.

Kentucky's Department of Financial Institutions became the third state-level regulator to dismiss its Coinbase lawsuit, ending the litigation on March 26.

Despite the legal victory, Grewal called on the federal government to end the state-by-state approach of crypto regulation and focus on passing clear market structure policies at the federal level.