On Tuesday, March 21, the Supreme Court of the United States is going to hear (1) its very first case ever involving crypto.
The attorneys defending the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase will be asking nine chief justices to hear their request to stop two class action lawsuits that have been filed against the cryptocurrency trading platform.
Yet, the technicalities or legalities of crypto-related matters are not the focus of this particular case. However, this dispute centers on a procedural question over whether or not a lawsuit should be brought forward in the federal case.
In this particular instance, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is asking to have the matter heard by an impartial arbitrator.
Arbitration is a form of alternative dispute resolution that is typically conducted outside of court and in which the chances are typically set against the customers.
The cryptocurrency trading platform Coinbase is the subject of two separate legal actions at the moment: Bielski v. Coinbase and Suski v. Coinbase.
Coinbase is now willing to send both of these disputes to arbitration, despite the fact that the federal court in California has decided to allow both of this litigation to continue.
In the Bielski case, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California rejected Coinbase’s plea to bring the issue into arbitration back in April of last year.
According to the ruling of the court, the arbitration clause of Coinbase’s terms of service is “unconscionable” and employs a “litigation gimmick,” putting the users at a handicap in the event that a disagreement arises.
Coinbase appealed the verdict to the next higher court, which was the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals, which is situated in San Francisco. But that court decided to affirm the lower court’s decision.
In this particular instance, Abraham Bielski has taken Coinbase to court in an effort to recover the 31,000 dollars that were taken from his Coinbase account.
He is demanding compensation. According to Bielski, the con artist was successful in gaining remote access to Bielski’s Coinbase account.
Coinbase Customers Are Being Sued in Class-Action Suits
Trade in cryptocurrencies Coinbase has been the target of multiple class-action lawsuits that address a diverse spectrum of concerns in recent months. As a result of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) determination that certain tokens constitute securities, Coinbase is being accused of engaging in the sale of unregistered securities.
Suski v. Coinbase is an additional issue that will be considered by the Supreme Court on Tuesday. This case involves a million-dollar prize event that was hosted by the cryptocurrency exchange in June of 2021.
Suski stated that he and other clients were deceived into thinking that one needed to buy or sell $100 worth of Dogecoin (DOGE) in order to qualify for a chance to win through the advertising that was done by Coinbase.
Suski added that he and other customers were led astray by the advertising.
But Suski stated that in actuality, people who did not trade Dogecoin (DOGE) also were eligible for the giveaway.
It is conceivable that the Supreme Court will become more involved in cases like this as the tension that exists between crypto players and regulators continues to increase. The case of ripple versus the SEC is one that many market analysts believe has a chance of reaching the highest court in the United States.