supreme court Agreed to Hear Appeals by Major Crypto Exchanges on Friday coin baselooking for 2 customer lawsuits It is against the company that was settled by private arbitration, not by federal court.
“We are satisfied supreme court We have agreed to hear our appeal and look forward to a resolution of this matter,” a Coinbase spokesperson said.
The issue raised by the Supreme Court in the Coinbase lawsuit relates to the highly technical issue of whether the parties to the lawsuit will be compelled to continue defending the case in a federal district court proceeding. Dispute to Arbitrator.
However, it may be the first time the Supreme Court has involved a cryptocurrency company.
“Certainly, it’s the first I know of,” said attorney Glenn Chappell. Abraham Bielski One of Coinbase’s customers suing the company.
“It’s very likely the first one,” he said.
People watch as the logo of Coinbase Global Inc, the largest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange, appears on a jumbotron at the Nasdaq MarketSite in Times Square, New York, April 14, 2021.
Shannon Stapleton | Reuters
He and Bielski’s other attorneys opposed Coinbase’s request to have the case taken to the Supreme Court.
“I don’t think a company like Coinbase has the right to automatically stay a lawsuit after a district court has already determined that arbitration is illegal,” Chappell said.
However, he added, “We welcome advocacy on behalf of consumers in this matter.”
Bielski sued Coinbase after he was defrauded of more than $31,000 from the company’s accounts by persons unrelated to Coinbase. His class action lawsuit alleges that the Electronic Funds Transfer Act requires Coinbase to deposit stolen cryptocurrencies into customer accounts.
Coinbase tried to force arbitration. However, a California federal district judge ruled that Mr. Bielski’s arbitration agreement with the company was void under state law, and Mr. Bielski’s case proceeded in district court.
In another lawsuit picked up by the Superior Court on Friday, Coinbase customers sued the company in California District Court, alleging that Coinbase’s promotion of the June 2021 Dogecoin sweepstakes violated state law. I was.
As with Bielski, the District Judge denied Coinbase’s request to arbitrate the sweepstakes-related lawsuit.
In both cases, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals denied Coinbase’s request to stay the case at the district court level because Coinbase appealed to overturn the ruling denying the arbitration.
Neal Katyal, the attorney representing Coinbase in the Supreme Court, said: his petition Asking a judge to hear the company’s appeal, he said there is a deep division among lower federal appeals courts on the issues the court decides.
Six federal appeals courts have ruled that appeals from the denial of motions to “automatically” compel arbitration continue in district court proceedings, Katial wrote.
However, “three circuits … hold opposition”, he added. “Unless this court intervenes, the circuit will remain divided.”
“Even though the Ninth Circuit will likely conclude that neither case belongs to federal court in the first place, Coinbase has now spent considerable time and energy on a nasty putative class action lawsuit in two district courts. , and resources must be expended.
