Coinbase loses Supreme Court case over Dogecoin dispute, stock drops

Crypto
exchange
Coinbase
has
lost
a
Supreme
Court
case
over
its
2021
Dogecoin
sweepstakes. 

In
Coinbase,
Inc.
v.
Suski,
Coinbase
consumers
claimed
they
were
deceived
into
paying
$100
or
more
to
enter
a
sweepstakes
in
June
2021
for
a
chance
to
win
prizes
of
up
to
$1.2
million
in
Dogecoin
(DOGE).

On
Thursday,
the
Supreme
Court
ruled
unanimously
against
Coinbase,
stating
that
a
court,
not
an
arbitrator,
should
decide
where
the
dispute
belongs.

Coinbase
case
details

The
basics
of
the
court
case
involve
David
Suski
and
others
who
entered
a
Coinbase
sweepstakes
in
2021.
They
sued
the
exchange
and
the
sweepstakes
management
company
for
misleading
app
users,
saying
they
were
duped
into
paying
$100
in
Dogecoin
to
enter.

Coinbase
fought
to
use
a
clause
in
their
user
agreement,
hoping
to
compel
arbitration,
but
the
district
court
—
later
confirmed
by
the
Ninth
Circuit
—
interpreted
the
contractual
documents
to
include
the
sweepstakes
agreement,
per
Axios. 

Coinbase
ruling

Justice
Ketanji
Brown
Jackson
stated
that
a
court,
not
an
arbitrator,
should
determine
the
appropriate
jurisdiction
for
the
dispute.
In
cases
involving
two
conflicting
contracts,
Jackson
emphasized
that
“a
court
needs
to
decide
what
the
parties
have
agreed
to.”

Paul
Grewal,
Chief
Legal
Officer
at
Coinbase,
responded
to
the
ruling
on
X,
stating,
“What
a
week.
Some
you
win.
Some
you
lose.
We
are
grateful
for
having
had
the
opportunity
to
present
our
case
to
the
Court
and
appreciate
the
Court’s
consideration
of
this
matter.”

The
ruling
has
little
to
do
with
crypto,
as
it
didn’t
address
any
significant
digital
assets
but
focused
more
on
arbitration. 

Following
the
news,
Coinbase’s
stock
(COIN)
price
fell
by
more
than
3.5%
in
mid-morning
trading
and
currently
is
trading
down
2.5%.