Major American Investor Takes Legal Action Against Leading Crypto Exchange, Sparking Ripple Effect Across Alternative Cryptocurrencies

Lawsuits continue to plague the cryptocurrency world. Most recently, an anonymous cryptocurrency whale has filed a lawsuit against Coinbase.

According to The Block, an anonymous crypto whale has sued Coinbase for allegedly failing to return frozen funds related to a 2024 cryptocurrency hack. The plaintiff, identified only as “DB,” filed a lawsuit on Monday against both Coinbase and the alleged thief, “John Doe.”

Although details of the case have not been released, it appears to be related to a $55 million $DAI phishing attack that occurred in August 2024. Anonymous whale “DB” became a victim of a phishing scam on August 20, 2024, after logging into a fake page, which allowed the thief to gain access to their wallet. The attacker allegedly used “Inferno Drainer,” a platform designed to facilitate crypto theft, to drain all of the whale’s $DAI assets.

The investor claims to have contracted multiple firms to track the whereabouts of the cryptocurrency after the attack and found the stolen funds in a Coinbase account.

According to the lawsuit, Coinbase froze the assets after DB informed the exchange, but refused to return them to the plaintiff without a court order establishing ownership.

The petition stated, “While Coinbase acted reasonably in freezing the stolen cryptocurrency, its refusal to act and return the frozen funds to the plaintiff, despite the plaintiff providing sworn evidence of legal ownership, has become unreasonable.” At this point, the anonymous whale “DB” is requesting a court order for Coinbase to return the stolen funds that belong to him. The petition states, “The plaintiff claims to be the legal owner of the stolen and frozen cryptocurrency and has the right to its immediate return.”

*This is not investment advice.