Stoltmann Law Offices Wins A Second Arbitration Award Against Coinbase for a Victim of Fraud

CHICAGO, Dec. 12, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Stoltmann Law Offices announces Another Arbitration Award Against Coinbase, Inc. (COIN stock symbol). An Arbitrator from the American Arbitration Association in Maini v. Coinbase, Inc., AAA Case No. 01-24-0003-1829 awarded the Claimant $329,665.12, his full loss, plus $150,000 in additional damages "in recompense for Respondent's actions taken and ignored in connection with his account-takeover and ensuing claims," $95,602.85 in attorney's fees, and $41,947.29 in costs. The Arbitrator ruled in Claimant's favor on his gross negligence count, breach of contract claims, breach of fiduciary duty claims, fraudulent and negligent misrepresentation claims and false advertisement claim based on the Arbitrator's determination that Coinbase "knowingly or recklessly misrepresented its security practices, its role as a privacy concerned and careful custodian of account information and assets (which it was not), its vow to reimburse those customers victimized by the TaskUs data breaches it caused, its compliance posture, and its Privacy Policy." The arbitrator also found that Coinbase's advertising and promises about account security "offering 'bank-level security', 'industry leading security', and 'that it is constantly working to protect' customers from 'emerging threats'" violated the California False Advertising Law. Last, the arbitrator found that by processing the illicit transactions, Coinbase violated California UCC § 8507(b). 

In the reasoned award before the American Arbitration Association, Maini v. Coinbase, Inc., AAA Case No. 01-24-0003-1829, the arbitrator made numerous specific findings against Coinbase, including findings that Coinbase failed to even investigate the root cause of Claimant's Coinbase customer support scam, despite his information being exposed in the TaskUs data breach. The arbitrator found Coinbase's use of TaskUs "spawned an illicit marketplace and clearinghouse for the pricing, acquisition and sale of the same confidential customer information it was duty-bound to protect", concluding that Coinbase's "poor decision making was the catalyst for all the social engineering ATOs which ensued." The arbitration award comes after three days of hearings, prehearing briefs on the law, and post-hearing briefing. The Arbitrator determined that Coinbase deviated from the standard of care owed by a custodian of assets and that Coinbase's decision to share highly confidential customer account information with TaskUs was the vector for the fraud perpetuated on Claimant.

According to Chicago attorney Andrew Stoltmann, one of the attorneys who tried the case against Coinbase, "This Award is complete vindication for a Coinbase customer who Coinbase blamed for being the victim of a social engineering attack from the first instance." Sara Hanley, co-lead counsel, added: "Coinbase failed to conduct even a basic investigation into Claimant's complaint, despite being notified promptly that he had been defrauded by an individual impersonating Coinbase customer support. This disregard for a customer reporting an active security incident stands in stark contrast to Coinbase's public representations regarding account security and customer protection. Coinbase was ultimately forced to compensate Claimant for its many failures, including what the arbitrator determined to be security failures which set the account-takeover into motion, and a disingenuous and false promise to reimburse victims of the TaskUs data breach."

Press contact = Joe Wojciechowski, [email protected], 312-332-4200.

SOURCE Stoltmann Law Offices