Brokerages · Brokerage (crypto) · Data breach
Coinbase
Headline
Before you can even START arbitration or file a small-claims case against Coinbase, you must FIRST complete a mandatory internal 'Formal Complaint Process'…
Not independently verified. Verification status: Unverified - heuristic first draft. Publish state: draft unverified.
Before you can even START arbitration or file a small-claims case against Coinbase, you must FIRST complete a mandatory internal 'Formal Complaint Process' — and Coinbase's own agreement states that skipping this step means your claim 'must be dismissed,' full stop. On top of that procedural hurdle: unlike traditional brokerages in this tab, digital assets held at Coinbase carry NO SIPC or FDIC protection (USD cash balances may qualify for conditional FDIC pass-through insurance, but Coinbase itself is not an FDIC-insured bank) — easy to overlook if you're used to how a regular brokerage account works.
- Severity
- Evidence tierUnassigned
- Claims confirmed
- Last verified2026-08-04
Primary source. None recorded — Unverified - heuristic first draft.
Terms
Arbitration
Binding arbitration + jury trial waiver + class action waiver, applies regardless of which of the two user agreements (individual vs. business) governs the account; requires a mandatory pre-arbitration 'Formal Complaint Process' (beyond just contacting support) that must be fully completed before any arbitration or small-claims filing — skipping this step means the claim 'must be dismissed' per the Agreement's own language, an extra procedural hurdle not seen at most traditional brokerages.
Data sharing
CONFIRMED 2025 DATA BREACH (SEC Form 8-K Item 1.05, May 15, 2025): a threat actor paid offshore support contractors/employees to pull customer data, including names, addresses, phone/email, last four of SSN, masked bank account numbers, government ID images and balance/transaction history; Coinbase refused a ransom demand and estimated $180M-$400M in remediation and customer reimbursement costs. SEPARATELY: Explicitly states it does NOT provide investment, tax, or legal advice despite functioning as a trading platform — places full suitability/appropriateness responsibility on the customer; separate 'Business User Agreement' applies if used for a company rather than personal use, meaning business customers are bound by different (and not fully reviewed here) terms.
Fees and billing
Not itemized this pass.
Contacts
Privacy contact. Not recorded.
Legal notice. Not verified this pass. If publicly traded: SEC Form 10-K cover page gives the official corporate address; the Secretary of State business-entity search in the state of incorporation gives the registered agent, which must accept service. If private: the state registered agent is usually the only reliable route.
Mailing address. Not recorded.
Evidence
No claims have been itemized for this row yet.
No sources are on file for this row yet.
Source vault
Link status: Candidate - not yet fetched
| Document | Last fetch | |
|---|---|---|
| Privacy policy coinbase.com/legal/privacy | Not fetched yet | NO (HTML only) |
| Terms of service coinbase.com/legal/user_agreement/united_states | Not fetched yet | NO (HTML only) |
| Website No URL recorded | Not fetched yet | — |
| Primary source No URL recorded Verification: Unverified - heuristic first draft | Not fetched yet | — |
Enforcement
No enforcement actions are linked to this row.
State statute
No HQ state on file, so no state statute applies by headquarters.