![Coinbase Loses Supreme Court Case Over Dogecoin Sweepstakes – Decrypt Coinbase Loses Supreme Court Case Over Dogecoin Sweepstakes – Decrypt](https://cdn.decrypt.co/resize/1024/height/512/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/dogecoin-doge-token-digital-rendering-gID_7.jpg)
In a unanimous decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Coinbase on Thursday in the crypto exchangeâs latest dispute before the nationâs top legal venue.Â
The 9-0 ruling, however, did not address any of Coinbaseâs crypto-related practicesânor is it likely to impact the hot-button issue of American crypto regulation.Â
Instead, the decision addressed a single bureaucratic element of Coinbaseâs ongoing legal battle against a class-action group of disgruntled customers who accused the exchange in 2021 of employing false and misleading tactics in the promotion of a Dogecoin sweepstakes.Â
âSome you win. Some you lose,â Coinbaseâs Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal wrote on Twitter in response to todayâs ruling. âWe are grateful for having had the opportunity to present our case to the Court and appreciate the Court’s consideration of this matter.â
Previously, the crypto exchange sought to settle the case via arbitration, citing user agreements that every Coinbase customer consents to in order to use the platform.Â
A federal judge ruled in November, however, that the terms of the sweepstakes in questionâwhich named California’s court system as the proper forum for related disputesâsuperseded that customer agreement.
All nine Supreme Court justices agreed today that a lower court should decide which of the two agreements should take precedence here, as opposed to ruling outright that the case should be settled in arbitration, as Coinbase desired.Â
âBasic legal principles establish the answer,â Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote today in the Courtâs opinion. â[Coinbaseâs] arguments are unpersuasive.â
The exchange had argued that if the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the lawsuitâs class-action plaintiffs, that ruling would unleash a torrent of legal disarray by encouraging other parties to wiggle out of arbitration agreements across the country.Â
âWe do not believe that such chaos will follow,â Justice Jackson responded today.
Americaâs largest crypto exchange first went before the Supreme Court last year. In that case, the bulk of the Courtâs conservative majority gave Coinbase a victory in a separate arbitration-related matter. Â
The ongoing class-action suit against Coinbase, filed by former Coinbase user David Suski, alleges that the exchangeâs 2021 âTrade Doge, Win Dogeâ contest intentionally misled customers into believing that they needed to buy or sell $100 worth of Dogecoin in order to be eligible to win cash prizes.Â
The fine print of the contest revealed that you could also enter for free by mailing in an index card with your name, address, and birthdayâgiven the United Statesâ stringent laws against sweepstakes that involve purchase requirements.Â
Suski and other plaintiffs argue they would have never spent $100 on DOGE had they known of the loophole.Â
While todayâs decision will likely have little impact on cryptoâs ongoing battle for regulatory legitimacy, it did notch one minor achievement: it marks the first time a U.S. Supreme Court Justice has ever had to write the word âDogecoinâ in an official Court opinion.
Edited by Ryan Ozawa.