Supreme Court Sides With Coinbase in First-Ever Crypto Company Case To Reach the Top Level of the US Judiciary

Coinbase, the largest crypto exchange in the US, has won a Supreme Court ruling, allowing the company to pause deliberation of a lawsuit and move the proceedings into private arbitration.

While it may not have direct implications on crypto, the victory marks the first of any digital asset firm in a Supreme Court ruling.

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the digital asset firm by 5 to 4, which overruled a lower court’s ruling regarding a customer’s lawsuit, which alleges that Coinbase failed to replace the funds fraudulently taken from his account.

Says Justice Brett Kavanaugh,

“The sole question here is whether the district court must stay its pre-trial and trial proceedings while the interlocutory appeal is ongoing. The answer is yes: the district court must stay its proceedings.”

Katherine Minarik, vice president of litigation at Coinbase tells FOX Business.

“It makes sense that lower court litigation should be paused while an appellate court decides whether a case belongs in court at all…

Coinbase appreciates today’s Supreme Court decision which recognizes that companies like Coinbase, as well as our customers, bear significant burdens when cases that belong in an arbitration process instead proceed in lengthy and expensive court proceedings.”

Coinbase’s chief legal officer Paul Grewal also comments on the ruling, calling it an “important win.”

“We are grateful to the Supreme Court for its careful review. Another example of why I believe in the American court system. The rule of law is sometimes slow, and at times disappointing. But it remains our last, best hope in an imperfect democracy.”

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