Consumer complaint received 2021-10-30
Company: Coinbase, Inc.
State: FL
Product: Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service
Sub-product: Virtual currency
Issue: Confusing or missing disclosures

Complaint:
Hello. On XX/XX/2021, I withdrew an amount of BAT ( Basic Attention Token ) from my XXXX account ( XXXX XXXX XXXX ) to my Coinbase account ( https : //www.coinbase.com ). At the time of the withdrawal 's completion ( XXXX XXXX ), this amount was equal to about {$100.00}. It was my intention to immediately withdraw this amount to my XXXX XXXX account. XXXX does not have the functionality for withdrawing funds directly to one 's bank account, and so withdrawing to Coinbase first was a necessary step. 

These funds never arrived to my Coinbase account. Ultimately, the issue ended up having to do with the network I selected when initiating the withdrawal at XXXX ( I chose to complete the withdrawal using the XXXX XXXX, which Coinbase is apparently incompatible with ). My issue with the whole situation is that Coinbase does not specify this lack of compatibility when it comes to BAT coin. On Coinbase, when initiating a withdrawal/transfer to Coinbase, one must first specify the type of coin to be withdrawn. Once selected, Coinbase provides a unique withdrawal address that is specific to one 's account and the chosen coin. The instructions at this point is to then paste this address at XXXX. There is no mention that one must choose a specific network ; neither on the FAQ page for BAT coin ( XXXX XXXX XXXX ), nor on the page where one is given the unique BAT coin address. This is different when one chooses, for example, USDT ( Tether ) token. In this case, BOTH the FAQ for USDT ( XXXX XXXX XXXX ) AND the page where one receives the unique withdrawal address, specifically mention to solely use the XXXX XXXX : " Important : at this time, Coinbase only supports XXXX on the Ethereum blockchain ( XXXX ). Do not send XXXX on any other blockchain to Coinbase. '' This is why I see Coinbase as being negligent. They make out the withdrawal process for BAT coin to be a completely simply matter, but do not mention such a crucial requirement! If you search on XXXX for the following search terms : XXXX XXXX coinbase, you will encounter a ridiculous amount of cases where individuals are losing hundreds and even thousands of dollars because of this nonsense. 

When I brought up my issue to Coinbase, they responded several times with the following robotic message in slightly different variations : *** Thank you for reaching back out. It appears that the transaction or account hash you've provided XXXX is invalid. 

To ensure we locate the correct transaction, please provide the URL for the transaction as our system is unable to process screenshots. If you're unable to locate this information please reach out to the other exchange or the sender for the hash information. 

You can see more information on transaction hashes here : XXXX XXXX XXXX Thanks, Coinbase support ref : XXXX XXXX XXXX *** The hash they refer to is from the following link provided by XXXX which shows the withdrawal completed successfully : https : XXXX After several days of back and forth, they finally responded with the following message : *** Thanks for contacting us. 

It's really saddening that you haven't received your BAT funds, we would really like to help but there is nothing we can do. 

It appears this transaction was performed using a network that Coinbase currently does not support. Since we dont support this network, the funds did not arrive in your Coinbase account and we do not have the ability to recover these funds. 

For details on all our assets and which networks Coinbase supports, please refer to our Asset Directory : XXXX XXXX XXXX  We recommend performing a small test send before sending any large amounts to avoid loss of funds. 

We appreciate your patience and understanding with this matter. Please feel free to reply back to this email if you have any further questions about this issue. 

Regards, Coinbase Support ref : XXXX : ref *** The link they provide simply leads to the FAQ pages for each asset they support ; which I mentioned above that BAT is one of them, and which does NOT specify one must use a particular network. 

Thank you reading for this.

Company response to consumer: Closed with explanation