tl;dr
The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled against Coinbase in a case related to a class-action lawsuit by customers alleging false and misleading tactics in a Dogecoin sweepstakes promotion. The ruling does not address Coinbase's crypto-related practices or impact crypto regulation issues. Instead, i...
The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled against Coinbase in a case related to a class-action lawsuit by customers alleging false and misleading tactics in a Dogecoin sweepstakes promotion.
The ruling does not address Coinbase's crypto-related practices or impact crypto regulation issues. Instead, it focuses on determining whether the case should be settled via arbitration, as desired by Coinbase, or through the terms of the sweepstakes, which specify the court system as the proper forum for disputes.
The decision does not significantly impact crypto regulation but represents a minor milestone as it marks the first time "Dogecoin" has been mentioned in a U.S. Supreme Court opinion.
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. In November, however, it was ruled that the terms of the sweepstakes in question—which named California's court system as the proper forum for related disputes—superseded that customer agreement.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.
The ongoing class-action suit against Coinbase, filed by former Coinbase user David Suski, alleges that the exchange’s 2021 “Trade Doge, Win Doge” 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.
While today’s decision will likely have little impact on crypto’s 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 “Dogecoin” in an official Court opinion.