Coinbase, an exchange based in the US is being targeted in a class-action lawsuit due to their arbitration policies being ‘unenforceable’.
A recent court filing from the northern district of California covers if Coinbase’s arbitration agreement within their terms of service is “overly harsh or one-sided”.
The plaintiff Abraham Bielski claims “the arbitration agreement is unconscionable because it lacks even a modicum of bilaterality” because “under California law, a contract provision is unenforceable if it was unconscionable at the time it was made.”
Additionally, “Bielski does not contest that he agreed to be bound by the Coinbase user agreement in effect when he signed up for his user account”, as this is not the main issue.
Bielski was targeted by a scammer in 2021 soon after the creation of his account. The scammer claimed to be a PayPal representative and Bielski granted the individual remote access to his account which in turn allowed the scammer to move over $31,000 out of his wallet. After a “customer-service nightmare” trying to contact Coinbase, Bielski received nothing but automated responses.
Bielski “seeks to represent a class of similarly situated individuals with claims against Coinbase”. Court documents from April 8th describe Coinbase moving to oblige with the arbitration, despite this, the motion was denied by Judge William Alsup because the “broader arbitration provision is unconscionable”.
