Coinbase Turns to Supreme Court to Settle Lawsuits From Account Holders

Coinbase has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to halt two lawsuits launched by account holders after the firm appealed the cases in Federal court, according to a Bloomberg report.

America’s largest crypto exchange is facing two separate suits, with one customer seeking to be compensated for $31,000 in losses after he gave a scammer remote access to his account.

Per the Bielski v. Coinbase, 22A91 case, Abraham Bielski of California alleges to have lost the funds after being “targeted by a scammer who purported to be a PayPal representative.” Bielski alleges that he contacted the exchange’s support desk after the fraudster drained his account; however, he “encountered a customer-service nightmare.”

Per the document, he “seeks to represent a class of similarly situated individuals with claims against Coinbase for violations of the Electronic Funds Transfer Act and Regulation E therein.”

The other case was brought as a class action lawsuit by a New York resident David Suski who is accusing Coinbase of holding a “deceptive digital ad campaign” related to a Dogecoin sweepstakes event in June 2021.

According to Suski, Coinbase failed to “adequately protect the interest of class members” who believed they had to trade $100 worth of DOGE to take part in the sweepstakes when there allegedly was an option to enter the contest for free.

Coinbase previously appealed to the 9th Circuit court, which thwarted both cases. The San Francisco-based firm is now asking the Supreme Court to step in on an “emergency basis.”

The San Francisco-based company argues that its user agreement contract requires customers proceed with arbitration.

Coinbase’s legal disputes

Coinbase is no stranger to controversy. Alongside its appeals to the Supreme Court, Coinbase is also facing allegations that it has violated the U.S. securities laws by listing several cryptocurrencies that should have been registered as securities.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reportedly began an investigation on the matter last month. Coinbase has, however, denied any wrongdoing.

In a separate case, the SEC filed insider trading charges against Ishan Wahi, a former product manager, who is being accused of violating the company’s insider trading rules by tipping off his brother and a friend on upcoming token listings.

The Department of Justice has separately charged the former Coinbase employee with wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with the same case.

Wahi pleaded not guilty on Wednesday.