Supreme Court rules against Coinbase in dogecoin case, handing consumers a win

Zoom in: The conservative-led court upheld the Ninth Circuit court's in Coinbase, Inc. v. Suski, which denied Coinbase's motion to compel arbitration.

Flashback: Coinbase held a dogecoin sweepstakes with prizes valued at up to $1.2 million.

• David Suski, and others who entered, sued the exchange and the sweepstakes management company. They alleged violations of California's False Advertising Law, Unfair Competition Law, and Consumer Legal Remedies Act.
• Coinbase sought to compel arbitration, via a clause found in its user agreement, but the district court interpreted the contractual documents to include the sweepstakes agreement.
• On appeal, the Ninth Circuit affirmed that decision.

The big picture: The crux of the issue doesn't have anything to do with crypto per se, but relates to the Federal Arbitration Act.

• For a century, that has protected businesses from the expense and risk of going to court to settle customer disputes.

The bottom line: The Supreme Court ruling isn't endorsing the Ninth Circuit's reasoning, but the justices agreed with the conclusion that "a court had to decide whether and to what extent the parties here reached an agreement."