(Bloomberg) — Coinbase Global Inc. asked the US Supreme Court to halt two lawsuits by users of the cryptocurrency exchange platform while the company presses appeals that seek to send the cases to arbitration.
In one case, a man says Coinbase should compensate him for $31,000 he lost after he gave remote access to his account to a scammer. In the other, Coinbase is accused of violating California consumer law by holding a $1.2 million Dogecoin sweepstakes without adequately disclosing that entrants didn’t have to buy or sell the cryptocurrency. Both suits seek class action status.
Federal trial judges in both cases rejected Coinbase’s bid to send the disputes to arbitration, which the company says is required under its user agreements. At the Supreme Court, Coinbase says the trial court proceedings should stop while the company presses its appeal at the San Francisco-based 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals. The 9th Circuit refused to block the cases.
The cases could have ramifications beyond Coinbase as companies seek to enforce arbitration agreements with consumers and employees. Coinbase says trial court proceedings should automatically stop when a party files a non-frivolous appeal seeking to send a case to arbitration.
Coinbase asked the Supreme Court both to intervene on an emergency basis and to take up the company’s appeals.
The issue “arises in every case in which a party appeals the denial of a motion to compel arbitration,” Coinbase argued in court papers.
The cases are Coinbase v. Bielski, 22A91, and Coinbase v. Suski, 22A92.
(Describes potential broader impact in fourth paragraph.)
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