Leading American exchange Coinbase has been served a fresh class action lawsuit for causing substantial loss in crypto assets to users.
A new class action lawsuit has been served against Coinbase for allegedly committing several infractions. These include engaging in unauthorized asset transfers, wanton freezing of funds, and locking customers out of their accounts for extended periods of time. As a result, a group of law firms is accusing Coinbase of causing substantial losses to its consumers owing to crypto volatility. Furthermore, these law firms, including Herman Jones LLP, Bernstein Liebhard LLP, and Robbins Geller, seek to represent affected users in seeking damages against the exchange.
According to George Kattula, lead plaintiff of the Coinbase class action lawsuit, the exchange transferred his crypto without authorization. Kattula also alleges that Coinbase locked his account.
The wallet and account holder states that all these happened even after changing his passcode at Coinbase’s prompting. Kattula states that approximately $6000 in crypto left his Coinbase account to unknown parties. Furthermore, the aggrieved Coinbase user stated that all petitions at Coinbase to secure the account have gone unanswered.
In addition, Kattula also claims that Coinbase’s laxity saw hackers steal an additional $1,000 from his account. Furthermore, he states that the exchange has made little to no effort to recover much of his stolen funds. The suit explained:
“Although Coinbase reversed the unauthorized transfer of the $1,000, it froze his account and refused to cover all the cryptocurrency that was stolen.”
The plaintiffs filed the class action lawsuit against Coinbase in the Georgia federal court. As of press time, the leading exchange was yet to provide any comments on the matter.
Excerpts from Other Interwoven Coinbase Class Action Lawsuits
According to a press release from Bernstein Liebhard reminding investors of the deadline to file against Coinbase, “plaintiff alleges that throughout the Class Period, [Coinbase] made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company’s business, operations, and compliance policies.”
Furthermore, the statement goes on to list other grievances committed by Coinbase regarding the custody of crypto assets.
Similar statements from other involved law firms also seemed to focus on Coinbase’s alleged handling of customer assets. Referencing the American crypto exchange’s separate ongoing probe case with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Robbins Geller said:
“Coinbase allowed Americans to trade digital assets that Coinbase knew or recklessly disregarded should have been registered as securities with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.”
Insider Trading Case
Coinbase is currently weathering several litigiously-inclined cases on several fronts both directly and indirectly. For instance, a former product manager of the company was recently charged with insider trading. Prosecutors allege that 32-year-old Ishan Wahi, alongside at least two cohorts, connived to exploit several Coinbase listing announcements for more than 25 digital currencies. In the process, the SEC says that Wahi and his brother Nikhil made more than $1.1 million in profits. The brothers made the profits along with a friend, Sameer Ramani.
Tolu is a cryptocurrency and blockchain enthusiast based in Lagos. He likes to demystify crypto stories to the bare basics so that anyone anywhere can understand without too much background knowledge.
When he’s not neck-deep in crypto stories, Tolu enjoys music, loves to sing and is an avid movie lover.