Coinbase, Inc.

2017-06-23

Birmingham, AL

Fraud or scam

Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service: Virtual currency

Company Response: Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2017-06-23

So Effingham, NH

Money was not available when promised

Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service: Virtual currency

Company Response: Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2017-06-23

Kenmore, MA

Other transaction problem

Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service: Virtual currency

Complaint: XXXX, a market exchange for crypto currencies, recently had some sort of system failure or margin call that resulted in frozen trades for many users and the plummet of the Ethereum ( ETH ) market from a value of over 300 USD to roughly XXXX USD in the span of a few minutes, which likely allowed some users to buy in many ETH at a low price. This cryptocurrency then rose back to price as users regained the ability to make trades to over 300 USD. <P/>I held a value of about XXXX USD worth of ETH at the time I lost the ability to make a trade, and ETH was valued at ~ XXXX USD. Then at {$350.00} I wanted to trade my XXXX ETH at {$350.00} but was unable to and was given the error message ( 'Enter a valid value ' ) despite entering a valid value. This error persisted for next 12 hours as the value of ETH dropped to below 320 USD. <P/>After trying my hand at this and giving up on trading with my laptop, out of frustration I attempted to sell my ETH on my phone. This involved the headache of authentication and setting up XXXX with XXXX XXXX. After accessing the site through my phone, I was able to finally make a trade! The problem here was that the market orders updated too slowly on my phone and the realtime data was offline. I ended up selling at a value my XXXX ETH at a value of XXXX USD when the price was just recovering from this mysterious drop to almost being free. XXXX USD! At the amount of USD I had initially, that 's XXXX ETH! This price shot back up to over 300 USD within minutes. If I were the scammer who dropped the market at a vulnerable time for XXXX, that would put me at XXXX XXXX dollars for XXXX ETH at XXXX USD! <P/>I believe many people are upset about this issue. Many people were unable to trade/cancel posted orders/interact with the site. Please ask me for more information/clarification if that 'll help to resolve this issue.
Company Response: Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2017-06-23

Foothill Ranch, CA

Other transaction problem

Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service: Virtual currency

Complaint: I lost XXXX dollars because of a flash crash caused by a market order which caused the price of ethereum dropping over 29 % in seconds and sparking a cascade of margin calls and stop loss orders. I am one of 800+ other investors from which this occurred to totalling a loss in the XXXX as our asset price flashed from over 300 dollars to cents within a second as the site went down ( locking in our trades ). This occurred on the XXXX site which is a Coinbase company. They said there was no error however they started reversing trades on the Coinbase site and not XXXX trading site. Many people lost life savings in the belief this flash crash was n't possible because of proper controls set in place by XXXX.
Company Response: Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2017-06-23

Houston, TX

Money was not available when promised

Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service: Domestic (US) money transfer

Complaint: So I have to complain about coinbase.com / XXXX transaction. On XXXX XXXX I transferred some money ( about {$2000.00} ) from my account at coinbase to my XXXX XXXX XXXX account. It was supposed to be deposited and available for me on XXXX XXXX. But money did not show up. Coinbase transaction shows as completed while the history of transactions on their won site shows that its " pending ''. Which one is true? Further, I contacted customer service via their customer portal on XXXX. There is no response, not money. Being a monetary service I expect coinbase to keep the word and make the amount available. Keeping their customers waiting indefinitely without any chance of getting customer support is despicable.
Company Response: Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2017-06-23

Seattle, WA

Money was not available when promised

Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service: Virtual currency

Complaint: I use coinbase and its trading site XXXX to buy bitcoin. XXXX had website problems with their ethereum sales on X/XX/17. They are investigating ethereum transactions. I do n't have any ethereum in XXXX. I have XXXX bitcoins and XXXX cash. XXXX has put my assets on hold without giving me a reason as to why. I have submitted several support tickets but they are refusing to release my aaaets or respond to my emails. Please help release my funds being held illegally. Thank you
Company Response: Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2017-06-23

Allentown, PA

Fraud or scam

Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service: Virtual currency

Complaint: I invested my money to buy ETH at XXXX, my balance was about {$110000.00}, i loaned from them {$10000.00} to make a little more money, and suddenly within seconds the price went from $ XXXX/ETH to $ XXXX/ETH liquidating everyone from their positions. The technology failed and froze everyone out of their accounts, No one could access to their account at the time and No one was notified of margin calls. The site shut down for an hour or two after before trading resumed and everyone that has margins was liquidated.
Company Response: Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2017-06-23

E Fairfield, VT

Unauthorized transactions or other transaction problem

Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service: Mobile or digital wallet

Complaint: I sold XXXXEthereum on Coinbase on XXXX XXXX at XXXX for XXXX $ US Dollars and the money went into my USD Wallet on Coinbase at exactly the same time at XXXX. At XXXX on the same day I clicked to withdrew my funds from my USD Wallet that contained XXXX $ US Dollars to my XXXX XXXX checking account ; provided I had already setup payment methods before. On the USD Wallet transactions page it showed that my transaction was " completed '' .I gave 2-3 business days for the money to arrive to my checking account on my XXXX XXXX account. The screen then told me that my money would arrive by the " end of the day on Saturday XXXX XXXX ''. I filed XXXX emails before and after that given time as my money did not appear but on Coinbase their transaction was " completed ''. I re-checked my account and learned that under the " History '' tab my transaction was still " pending ''. During this time I reached out to the community forums as well as Coinbase support to figure out the issue but all I got was automated response emails. It is now XXXX XXXX of XXXX and my XXXX $ Still has not been deposited into my checking account. I want this issue to be solved but so far I have received absolutely no support from their support page and I learned that this happened to thousands of other people as well. I would like to close my account and never use their service again but still cling to the " hope '' that my money will be deposited. This is unacceptable and should be fixed.
Company Response: Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2017-06-23

San Jose, CA

Money was not available when promised

Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service: Virtual currency

Company Response: Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2017-06-23

Co Spgs, CO

Money was not available when promised

Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service: Domestic (US) money transfer

Company Response: Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2017-06-22

Garrett Park, MD

Other service problem

Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service: Virtual currency

Complaint: XXXX XXXX, XXXX I was trading on XXXX ( XXXX ), a regulated US based crypto currency exchange platform. I was margin trading Ethereum/USD at the moment. Then there 's a huge price slippage happened and bring the price all the way down from $ 310+ to {$.00} in a matter of seconds, this slippage caused hundreds of margin order liquidations and sold my total ether holding as well as my wife 's on the exchange ( around 2100 total eth ) at {$.00} dollar per ether. The price then recovered right back to where it were $ 300+ quickly. I suspected that this is a huge market manipulation as well as some major technical issues on XXXX 's end. Other crypto exchanges did not experience this price crash during the time. Additionally, during the time the price was crashing, majority XXXX users were unable to login including me, in order to minimize our losses. Currently based on their XXXX feed, their VP claimed that their trading engine was working properly and no wrong doing. This is not acceptable and hundreds of ( if not thousands of ) users were affected. XXXX XXXX XXXX statement : XXXX : XXXX Offical XXXX forum affected users posts : XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX
Company Response: Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2017-06-22

CA

Fraud or scam

Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service: Virtual currency

Complaint: XXXX ( coinbase ) XXXX experienced a flash crash around XXXX PT on XX/XX/XXXX. The price of ethereum traded went from over $ XXXX/coin to {$0.00} / coin in a matter of seconds before climbing back up to around the original value. This liquidated assets of literally every account that had a margin trade open and everybody lost all of the money in their accounts. I myself lost over {$30000.00} worth of ethereum in seconds. Many others lost more. I 'm sure the total losses were in the tens of millions of $ or much higher. This is absolutely absurd because no person could predict susceptibility to this kind of Market manipulation. It 's not acceptable for the exchange to expose their users to risks that can make them lose everything at such a moment 's notice. The Exchange needs to reverse the transactions that happened at this time, as it is currently they lose all credibility and their attempts to protect what happened as valid puts their relation to the matter into question!
Company Response: Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2017-06-22

Reidsville, NC

Fraud or scam

Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service: Mobile or digital wallet

Complaint: Dear CFPB, The price of Ethereum crashed to as low as XXXX cents from around {$310.00} in about a second on the XXXX cryptocurrency exchange on XXXX XXXX 2017, which is being blamed on a " multimillion dollar market sell '' order. <P/>Ethereum is an alternative digital currency to bitcoin and had been trading as high as {$350.00} on Wednesday. A big price fall triggered 800 stop-loss orders and margin funding liquidations caused Ethereum to trade as low as 10 cents for 1 second before going back to a normal market value. <P/>A stop-loss order is a trade that is executed automatically once a security in this case, Ethereum hits a particular price. Margin funding is essentially trading with borrowed funds. Liquidation is when these positions are closed automatically in order to prevent further losses. The knock-on selling effect caused the flash crash on XXXX thus resulting in Liquidation off everyone 's funds. <P/>When you are called, you have to have the time to place the money in the account. What we have here is not true margin, it is leveraged, calling it margin in its own right if it wo n't behave as the SEC/FINRA/XXXX defined margin is fraudulent. <P/>The link to a chart below is a screenshot of the GDAX price showing the high and low price. XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX I do n't mind being margin called. I DO mind not having access to a system that allows me to fund my account to prevent the call ( as is required in all US brokerage services ) All this resulted in me losing {$14000.00} because of this margin call. Screenshot that shows my account being margin called : XXXX XXXX XXXXXXXX Thank you for taking the time to read this.
Company Response: Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2017-06-22

Chicago, IL

Fraud or scam

Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service: Virtual currency

Company Response: Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2017-06-22

Gilbert, AZ

Fraud or scam

Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service: Virtual currency

Complaint: Site magically goes down for " maintenance '' every time it 's a opportunity to buy XXXX . This site is a business is a scam! NO LIVE CUSTOMER SUPPORT! XXXX being stored on there platform!!
Company Response: Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2017-06-22

Dearborn, MI

Fraud or scam

Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service: Virtual currency

Company Response: Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2017-06-22

Jacksonville, FL

Fraud or scam

Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service: Virtual currency

Complaint: While trading with over {$4700.00} of USD on a cryptocurrency exchange known as XXXX which is hosted by Coinbase. On XXXX/XXXX/2017 there was a large order which was placed and XXXX XXXX systems were unprepared to handle. This large order caused me and thousands of others like me to lose much money because their systems without monitoring and permissions from the account owners to liquidate positions without appropriate warning or the facilitation of a system that was able to handle requests. <P/> Because of an inability to act do to their own system malfunction and their refusing to communicate with their clients or admit err on their part I am seeking recompense for the money stolen from me by them and for them violating their own terms of service. I have filed reports with the Credit Bureau and the FDIC in regards to this matter. <P/> I have attached two documents showing the original order and the order which was changed without the ability to act upon the change. <P/> In response to this effect the company released this notice : " You 're receiving this email because your ETH-USD position experienced a margin call on XXXX XXXX, 2017. <P/> At XXXX PT on XXXX XXXX 2017, a multimillion dollar market sell was placed on the XXXX ETH-USD order book. This resulted in orders being filled from {$310.00} to {$220.00}, translating into a book slippage of 29.4 %. This slippage started a cascade of approximately 800 stop loss orders and margin funding liquidations, causing ETH to temporarily trade as low as {$0.00}. <P/> Our initial investigations show no indication of wrongdoing or account takeovers. We understand this event can be frustrating for our customers. Our matching engine operated as intended during this event and trading with advanced features like margin always carries inherent risk. <P/> We are continuing to conduct a thorough investigation and will keep customers updated with any resulting actions. With that in mind, it is important to note that these trades are final, in accordance with our XXXX Trading Rules ( Section 3.1 ). Honoring properly executed orders is critical to maintaining the integrity of an exchange. <P/> In response to the large price movement we decided to temporarily halt trading of ETH-USD. Once we confirmed all systems were operating correctly, we restored trading when in accordance with our Downtime Process ( Section 5 ). <P/> XXXX XXXX XXXX Regards, XXXX Team '' While they state that this is in accordance to their XXXX Trading Rules, it is not as demonstrated here : XXXX terms state : 3.1 All Fills are final and will not be reversed unless : ... b. Due to a serious technical error, Orders or Fills do not occur as specified in these Rules - in which case Coinbase will make all reasonable efforts to restore all Traders to the position they would have been in had the error not occurred. <P/> I would consider this a serious technical error given the misalignment with the overall market. <P/> 3.4 If technical reasons prevent or degrade Traders ability to place or cancel Orders, or prevent or degrade access to XXXX XXXX or the Web Interface or affect the operation of XXXX Order Books or matching engines, then Coinbase may, in its discretion, take one or more of the following actions in respect of one or more Order Books. ... b. Cancel Open Orders. c. Disable the ability to place new Orders ( Cancel-Only Mode ). d. Disable sign-in. e. Disable the XXXX XXXX. f. Disable access to the Web Interface. ... At the time of the crash, I could not log into the interface, data was unavailable, I was logged out, etc. I consider this a valid technical reason for controlling the book. I do n't think anyone will dispute the challenges recently faced regarding web site and API access during volatile periods. <P/> Thank you for your efforts and I appreciate you taking the time to review and assist in regards to this outrageous matter.
Company Response: Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2017-06-22

Jersey City, NJ

Unauthorized transactions or other transaction problem

Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service: Mobile or digital wallet

Company Response: Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2017-06-22

Ocean Beach, CA

Money was not available when promised

Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service: Virtual currency

Company Response: Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2017-06-21

Phoenix, AZ

Fraud or scam

Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service: Mobile or digital wallet

Complaint: On XX/XX/XXXX I requested a withdrawal from coinbase inc to my bank account for {$450.00}. It is an app based virtual currency exchange for Bitcoin and also has a USD wallet. I have not received my money and have repetively tried to contact them on every platform I can with no success. Other people are having similar issues. I think we are all being scammed by this company. Please help
Company Response: Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2017-06-21

Phoenix, AZ

Fraud or scam

Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service: Virtual currency

Complaint: Coinbase had a fraudulent " flash crash '' Due to deliberate market manipulation at XXXX on Ethereum which caused everyone to lose millions and billions of dollars. I myself lost a substantial amount of money. XXXX XXXX XXXX There are numerous people that were affected.
Company Response: Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2017-06-21

New Britain, CT

Money was not available when promised

Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service: Virtual currency

Company Response: Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2017-06-19

Laurel, NY

Other transaction problem

Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service: Virtual currency

Complaint: Coinbase has my money and wo n't allow me to trade it or withdraw it. They have no customer support and have not responded to my emails for a week. I have {$7900.00} in XXXX on their XXXX trading platform with another {$9000.00} borrowed on margin. I am unable to touch this amount because all trading is disabled.
Company Response: Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2017-06-18

Rowlett, TX

Other service problem

Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service: Virtual currency

Company Response: Closed with explanation

Timely Response

2017-06-17

Chicago, IL

Other service problem

Money transfer, virtual currency, or money service: Virtual currency

Complaint: I tried to log into my Coinbase accou nt to check the balance while I was on vacation in XXXX . They locked my account and have n't restored access and it 's now bee n 2 weeks. I have contacted the company repeatedly and received no response.
Company Response: Closed with explanation

Timely Response