Consumer complaint received 2022-11-19
Company: Coinbase, Inc.
State: CA
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Virtual currency
Issue: Fraud or scam

Complaint:
1. I first became a customer of Coinbase in XX/XX/XXXX, at which time I purchased XXXX assets. 
2. I have been a customer in good standing of Coinbase since that time. I have bought, sold, and traded various cryptocurrencies as supported on the Coinbase exchange. 
3. I have entrusted Coinbase with custody of my crypto ( i.e. hosted wallets- via Coinbase.com, Coinbase XXXX  and Coinbase XXXX XXXX  ) until XX/XX/XXXX. 
XXXX. Recently, starting in early XX/XX/XXXX, I began transferring cryptocurrencies off of Coinbase ( hosted wallets ), and onto a personal " hot wallet '' ( self-custodied ). 
a. It should be noted that Coinbase generally supports this practice, and even encourages it in some cases. 
XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, I began to notice unexpected restrictions/limitations placed on my account. Specifically, I was blocked from linking my Coinbase XXXX ( hot wallet - self-custodied ) to my Coinbase.com account. 
XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, I filed a Support Request with Coinbase - describing the issue per previous : Case # XXXX. I received only an auto-reply email from Coinbase acknowledging this. 
XXXX. At some point, I was able to re-verify my identity with Coinbase and continue with account activity. 
XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, as per previous, I moved ( sent ) assets valued at {$82000.00} USD total from the Coinbase-hosted wallet to my personal wallet ( external ). 
XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, I moved ( sent ) an additional assets off of Coinbase, as per previous, valued at {$3800.00} USD total. 
XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, I moved ( sent ) an additional assets off of Coinbase, as per previous, valued at {$4800.00} USD total. 
11. On XX/XX/XXXX, following previous, my Coinbase account was abruptly disabled ( by Coinbase ) with the message " account temporarily disabled ''. i.e. I was completely unable to access ( log in ) to my account whatsoever. I proceeded to file another Support Request with Coinbase : Case XXXX XXXX. I again received an auto-reply email. 
XXXX. I contacted Coinbase support via social media ( XXXX, XXXX ) as well, to direct them to properly escalate Case # XXXX. 
XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, Coinbase responded via email with instructions to once again reverify my identity ( ID + selfie photo verification ). The email from Coinbase specifically states the following : " Within XXXX hours of your access being restored, you should be able to complete buy and sell transactions. After XXXX hours, you should have full trading capabilities. For your security, sends will be XXXX on your account until the full security period has passed ( identity verification plus XXXX hours ). 
XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, I completed steps per previous, and regained ability to access ( log in to ) my account, but with all functions ( buy, sell, trade, transfer ) still restricted/blocked. 
XXXX. From XX/XX/XXXX to XX/XX/XXXX, I continued to communicate via email with Coinbase, as the " temporary restrictions '' were not lifted in the timeframe they stated. 
XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, Coinbase emailed me, including the following : " XXXX determined that we will need to review your account further. '' Once again ( third time ), I was requested to reverify my identity. 
XXXX. Per previous, on XX/XX/XXXX, I attempted to follow the instructions again, however, my account was again fully blocked - i.e. I could not log in yet again. 
XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, I communicated via XXXX direct messages with Coinbase XXXX. The agent suggested the following reason for this further disablement of my account : " there is currently an ongoing incident that is preventing customers from completing the XXXX process. Our engineers are working to resolve this ASAP. '' XXXX. On XX/XX/XXXX, I proceeded to contact Coinbase Support via Phone, opening another Support Request : Case # XXXX. During the call, I explained all context. The agent suggested that the ID verification cycle was because " my driver 's license is a California one, but you originally opened your account with a driver 's license from a different state '' - to which I explained that I had moved to California in XXXX. My account was unlocked ; I could log in again, however, the restrictions on actions were still in place ( i.e. I can not buy, sell, trade, transfer ). The agent then said he had fully escalated my case, it would be manually reviewed & these restrictions would be lifted, and that I should watch my email closely for an imminent update. 
XXXX. It should be noted that the explanation of account holds & restrictions from the Coinbase agent via XXXX was not consistent with the one from the agent via Phone. 
XXXX. Early on XX/XX/XXXX, I requested an update from Coinbase via Case # XXXX, across various support channels. I have not heard any response as of XX/XX/XXXX. 
At this point, I still can not actually access my assets custodied by Coinbase- I can see balances only, but can not perform any useful actions. The assets that remain tied up are valued in total at {$6200.00} USD currently. Despite my patient, clear, cooperative attempts to come to a resolution with Coinbase, they have not effectively cooperated in turn ; rather, they have created an endless cycle of tasks amounting to no useful consequence. No reasonable explanations have been given for the random account restrictions, and no useful resolution or remediation has been provided by Coinbase. This is why I am formally filing a complaint against Coinbase.

Company response to consumer: Closed with monetary relief