In a recent ruling that may have implications for the cryptocurrency industry, the US Supreme Court unanimously sided against US-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, over the 2021 Dogecoin (DOGE) coin. the lottery He disputes.
the Court decisionJudge Ketanji Brown-Jackson rejected Coinbase's argument that a ruling against it would lead to legal turmoil, stressing the importance of contractual agreements and the role of courts in resolving disputes.
Coinbase's arguments were rejected
The main issue was whether the dispute should be submitted to arbitration or brought before a court. According to In accordance with Bloomberg Law, the court emphasized that arbitration requires consent of the parties and that in cases involving conflicting contracts, the court must determine the intent of the parties.
Coinbase has claimed that a ruling against it would “create chaos” by encouraging parties to challenge arbitration agreements. But the court rejected this concern, stating that it did not expect such chaos that would arise from its decision.
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The case revolves around a sweepstakes in which consumers claimed they were tricked into paying $100 to participate. The conflict arose due to the presence of two contracts indicating a difference in dispute Decision mechanisms.
David Soski and others who participated filed a lawsuit against the exchange and the company that ran the Dogecoin sweepstakes.
They alleged violations of California's False Advertising Law, Unfair Competition Law, and Consumer Remedies Act.
While the General User Agreement provided for arbitration of all disputes, the Sweepstakes' contract provided that disputes must be brought in a California court.
Mixed results in future cases?
Judge Jackson stressed the need for the court to determine the contract that should govern the resolution of the dispute in such situations.
However, the court refrained from addressing whether the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals correctly held that the lottery-specific contract “supersedes” the public contract. User AgreementConsidering this outside the scope of the question asked.
Justice Neil Gorsuch expressed a concurring opinion, emphasizing the contractual nature of arbitration and noting that different facts can lead to different results. He pointed out that the enforceability of arbitration depends on the agreement of the parties.
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Paul Grewal, chief legal officer at Coinbase, reflected on the ruling, acknowledging both victories and defeats. Grewal I expressed He was grateful for the opportunity to present their case to the court and expressed his appreciation for their consideration of the matter.
Drop a double-digit coin, and DOGE follows suit
Following the ruling, Coinbase stock, which trades under the symbol COIN, took a major hit, falling more than 11% to a valuation of $220. This decline came as a surprise given initial expectations of Possible victory. Before the ruling, Coinbase stock reached a high of $240 on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the dog-themed cryptocurrency DOGE also saw a decline of more than 4% over the past 24 hours, resulting in a current trading price of $0.158.
Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com