U.S. Court Rules Money Laundering-Related Case Against Coinbase Must Have Public Trial

A class action lawsuit against Coinbase, accusing the crypto company of failing to adequately monitor accounts for money laundering, is ruled to be set in public trial.

A U.S. federal court has ruled that law firm Silver Miller’s money laundering-related class action lawsuit against crypto exchange and wallet Coinbase must be held in open court as opposed to a private arbitration boardroom, Silver Miller attorney David Silver told Cointelegraph in an email today, April 23.

The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today that the class action against Coinbase, brought by Silver Miller and co-counsel the Wites Law Firm, will be held in open court. The case in question alleges that Coinbase assisted in laundering around $8.2 mln of stolen Bitcoin (BTC) – valued at over $100 mln today. In July, 2017, the CEO of the now bankrupt crypto exchange Cryptsy, Paul Vernon, had been found guilty of stealing his users’ cryptocurrency and as ordered to pay $8.2 mln in damages, a case Silver Miller law firm was also involved in.

As Vernon used his Coinbase account to convert the stolen funds into fiat between 2014 and 2016 before fleeing the country, the current Silver Miller class action lawsuit against Coinbase alleges negligence in account oversight:

“Plaintiffs seek damages based upon the unlawful conduct of COINBASE in failing to properly monitor customer accounts that held investors’ money and ignoring its duty to investigate suspicious activities under U.S. anti-money laundering rules.”

Silver Miller co-founder David Silver, who was part of the original Cryptsy lawsuit, told Cointelegraph that he has long “preached that accountability, transparency, and verification are needed in the crypto exchange space”:

“This ruling brings the plaintiffs one step closer to finding out just what type of Know Your Customer protocols and Anti-Money-Laundering protections Coinbase employed and whether Coinbase complied with state and federal statutes in that regard. Coinbase has delayed and tried to keep discovery hidden from the public long enough. That stops now.”

Miller added that the law firm is “pleased” that the case will be a public trial:

“Coinbase’s ascension to the top of the crypto exchange heap has not come without missteps in its business practices along the way. We look forward to having Coinbase answer for its role in the millions of dollars in harm suffered by our clients.”

Coinbase is currently the subject of multiple disputes from users, including a complaint filed in March of this year that alleges that the exchange benefited from insider trading when it added Bitcoin Cash (BCH) to its exchange and wallet services. On the merchant side, Coinbase has recently received backlash online from its reported decision to suspend the account of the WikiLeaks Shop, the official merchandise arm of the whistle-blowing Wikileaks organization.