Coinbase can suspend accounts and freeze crypto, and you may lose access to assets if it changes policy or fails. Fees can be high and disputes go to arbitration.
The clauses that could affect you the most. Read these even if you skip everything else.
You waive your right to sue in court, join a class action, or have a jury trial — nearly all disputes go to individual binding arbitration.
Coinbase can suspend or close your account instantly for any reason without explanation, then give you 90 days to withdraw funds.
Crypto is not FDIC/SIPC insured, is held in pooled accounts, and Coinbase's total liability is capped at your wallet's value with no consequential damages.
Crypto transfers are irreversible and mistakes (wrong address, unsupported asset) mean permanent loss with zero Coinbase liability.
Coinbase can change the terms at any time by posting them, and continued use counts as acceptance.
Browse what the terms actually say — filter by severity or by topic.
Mandatory binding arbitration
⚖️Forced arbitration💬 You give up your right to sue Coinbase in court, to have a jury decide your case, and to join a class action. Almost all disputes must go through private, binding arbitration on an individual basis.
“APPENDIX 5 INCLUDES AN AGREEMENT TO ARBITRATE WHICH REQUIRES, WITH LIMITED EXCEPTIONS, THAT ALL DISPUTES BETWEEN YOU AND US SHALL BE RESOLVED BY BINDING AND FINAL ARBITRATION. APPENDIX 5 ALSO CONTAINS A CLASS ACTION AND JURY TRIAL WAIVER.”
Coinbase can change terms anytime
📝Can change terms anytime💬 Coinbase can rewrite the agreement whenever it wants just by posting a new version. Simply continuing to use the service means you accepted the changes; your only way to reject them is to stop using Coinbase and close your account.
“We may amend or modify this Agreement at any time by posting the revised agreement on the Coinbase Site and/or providing a copy to you (a "Revised Agreement"). The Revised Agreement shall be effective as of the time it is posted... Your continued use of the Services after the posting of a Revised Agreement constitutes your acceptance”
Termination at sole discretion
⛔Account termination💬 Coinbase can refuse, suspend, or shut down your account and freeze transfers at any time, for any reason it decides, with no obligation to explain.
“We may, in our sole discretion, refuse to open a Coinbase Account, suspend or terminate any Coinbase Account, suspend or terminate the sending of Digital Assets from your account, or suspend or terminate the trading of Digital Assets in your account.”
Extensive personal data collection incl. biometrics
📥Data collection💬 You must hand over a lot of sensitive information, potentially including biometric data, to use the service. This is standard for a regulated financial company but the scope is broad.
“The information we request may include certain personal information, including, but not limited to, your name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, date of birth, taxpayer identification number, government identification, and information regarding your bank account... and in some cases (where permitted by law), special categories of personal data, such as your biometric information.”
Data shared with credit/fraud agencies and carriers
🔗Shares with third parties💬 Coinbase can share your information with outside agencies and your phone carrier for identity and fraud checks, and can disclose data to satisfy legal or government requests.
“you acknowledge and agree that your personal information may be disclosed to credit reference and fraud prevention or financial crime agencies... you authorize your wireless carrier to use or disclose information about your account and your wireless device... to Coinbase or its service provider”
No liability for lockout losses
🛡️Limits their liability💬 If you can't access your account (even due to Coinbase downtime) and your crypto loses value in the meantime, Coinbase is not responsible for those losses.
“if you are locked out of your Coinbase Account, it is possible that the value or price of the Digital Assets in your account might go down before your access is restored. Coinbase shall not be liable for any alleged losses that you suffer from a drop in Digital Asset values or prices.”
Coinbase can delist an asset and force-convert it
📌Other💬 Coinbase can stop supporting any coin at its discretion and, if you don't move it out in time, convert your holding to cash or another asset at market value minus costs — possibly at a bad time for you.
“Coinbase may in its sole discretion terminate support for any particular Digital Asset. If you do not sell or send such Digital Asset off platform before Coinbase terminates its support... then Coinbase may, in its discretion, remove such Digital Asset from your Digital Asset Wallet and credit your Digital Asset Wallet or USD Wallet the equivalent market value”
Lost assets from wrong/unsupported transfers
🛡️Limits their liability💬 If you send unsupported assets, forks, staking tokens, or use unsupported protocols through your wallet, you can permanently lose them and Coinbase bears no responsibility.
“Any attempted transactions in such items will result in loss of the item. You acknowledge and agree that other than as set forth in this Agreement supplemental protocols are excluded from Supported Digital Assets and that Coinbase has no liability for any losses related to supplemental protocols.”
Pooled omnibus custody, no segregated address
📌Other💬 Your crypto is held pooled together with other customers' assets on shared addresses rather than a dedicated wallet just for you; Coinbase keeps ledgers to track ownership.
“Coinbase may use shared blockchain addresses, controlled by Coinbase, to hold Supported Digital Assets for Digital Asset Wallets on behalf of customers... Coinbase shall have no obligation to create a segregated blockchain address for your Supported Digital Assets.”
Not FDIC/SIPC insured for crypto
📌Other💬 Your crypto is not insured by the government. USD cash may get limited pass-through FDIC insurance under certain conditions, but crypto is not protected if Coinbase fails.
“Coinbase is not an FDIC-insured bank or NCUSIF-insured credit union.”
Broad clawback/reversal power
📌Other💬 Coinbase can cancel or claw back a transaction even after it's completed if it suspects a problem, and doesn't have to redo it at the original price — meaning you could lose out on price movements.
“We reserve the right to refuse to process, or to cancel, correct, clawback, or reverse, any Digital Asset Transaction or Transfers in our sole discretion, even after funds have been debited from your account(s)... In such instances, Coinbase will reverse the transaction and we are under no obligation to reinstate a purchase or sale order at the same price”
Can debit other balances/linked accounts
📌Other💬 If a payment fails or is reversed, Coinbase can pull money from your other wallets or linked accounts to cover the amount.
“you authorize Coinbase, in its sole discretion, either to cancel the transaction or to debit your other payment methods, including your USD Wallet or Digital Asset Wallet balances or other linked accounts, in any amount necessary to complete the transaction.”
Recurring ACH authorization
🔄Auto-renews💬 If you set up recurring buys, you authorize ongoing automatic debits from your bank until you change the settings yourself.
“you authorize us to initiate recurring electronic payments... This authorization will remain in full force and effect until you change your recurring transaction settings”
Irreversible transfers, user bears all error risk
🛡️Limits their liability💬 If you make any mistake sending crypto — wrong address, wrong memo, incompatible wallet — the funds are gone for good and Coinbase takes no responsibility.
“Coinbase shall bear no liability or responsibility in the event you enter an incorrect blockchain destination address, incorrect Destination Tag/Memo, or if you send your Supported Digital Assets to an incompatible wallet... Digital Asset Transfers cannot be reversed once they have been broadcast”
No guaranteed reimbursement for security breaches
🛡️Limits their liability💬 Even if you report a hack or fraud immediately, Coinbase does not promise to refund you for losses.
“Prompt reporting of a Security Breach does not guarantee that Coinbase will reimburse you for any losses suffered or be liable to you for any losses suffered as a result of the Security Breach.”
Perpetual, sublicensable license to your content
📄Claims your content💬 Anything you post through Coinbase can be used, modified, and re-licensed by Coinbase worldwide forever, for free, even after you leave.
“by using our Services you grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable, perpetual, and transferable license to host, publish, display, perform, reproduce, copy, distribute, communicate, modify, reformat, translate, or otherwise use Your Content”
Immediate termination for any reason, secret criteria
⛔Account termination💬 Coinbase can shut down your account instantly for any reason and won't tell you why. You then have 90 days to withdraw your funds unless legally blocked.
“Coinbase may suspend, restrict, or terminate your access to any or all of the Coinbase Services, and/or deactivate or cancel your Coinbase Account(s), with immediate effect for any reason at its sole discretion and is under no obligation to disclose the details of its decision”
Deemed-delivered notices via possibly outdated email
🗄️Data retention💬 Coinbase treats all notices as delivered even if you never actually receive them, so it's on you to keep your contact info current.
“if Coinbase sends you an electronic Communication but you do not receive it because your primary email address on file is incorrect, out of date, blocked by your service provider, or you are otherwise unable to receive electronic Communications, Coinbase will be deemed to have provided the Communication to you.”
Dormant funds sent to state as unclaimed property
📌Other💬 If you don't log in for years, your funds may be turned over to the state as unclaimed property (and converted to USD).
“If Coinbase is holding funds... and has no record of you accessing the Services for several years, applicable law may require Coinbase to deliver any such funds (or their USD equivalent) to the applicable state or jurisdiction as unclaimed property.”
Data transferred in merger/acquisition
💰Sells your data💬 If Coinbase is bought or merges, your personal information can be handed to the new owner.
“In the event that Coinbase is acquired by or merged with a third party entity, we reserve the right... to transfer or assign the information we have collected from you as part of such merger, acquisition, sale, or other change of control.”
Damages capped at your wallet value; no consequential damages
🛡️Limits their liability💬 The most you can ever recover from Coinbase is capped at the value of the crypto in your wallet, and never for lost profits or indirect losses — unless a court finds gross negligence or fraud.
“IN NO EVENT SHALL COINBASE... BE LIABLE (I) FOR ANY AMOUNT GREATER THAN THE VALUE OF THE SUPPORTED DIGITAL ASSETS ASSOCIATED WITH YOUR DIGITAL ASSET WALLET AT THE TIME OF THE EVENT... OR (II) FOR ANY LOST PROFITS... OR ANY SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, INDIRECT... CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES”
Broad user indemnification obligation
📌Other💬 If your actions cause Coinbase to face claims, fines, or legal costs, you must pay those costs including attorneys' fees.
“You agree to indemnify and hold Coinbase... harmless from any claim or demand (including attorneys' fees and any fines, fees or penalties imposed by any regulatory authority) arising out of or related to your breach of this Agreement or your violation of any law”
Class, collective and mass action waiver + jury waiver
🚫No class action💬 You can only bring claims individually — no class actions, mass arbitrations, or jury trials. This makes it much harder and costlier to pursue small-value claims.
“each of us may bring claims against the other only on an individual basis and not on a class, representative, or collective basis or as part of a mass action... YOU AND WE AGREE TO WAIVE OUR RIGHTS TO A JURY TRIAL.”
California law, New York courts
📍Jurisdiction💬 Disputes are governed by California law and any court cases must happen in New York, which may be inconvenient and expensive if you live elsewhere.
“the laws of the State of California, without regard to principles of conflict of laws, will govern the Agreement... the state and federal courts in New York, New York... will have exclusive jurisdiction”
Confidential batch arbitration process
⚖️Forced arbitration💬 Arbitration proceedings must be kept secret, and if many people file similar claims they get grouped into batches — a structure that limits coordinated 'mass arbitration' pressure on Coinbase.
“You and we agree to keep any information exchanged between us in any arbitration proceeding confidential... If there are more than 25 but fewer than 2,000 arbitrations, then there will be 20 batches.”
Mandatory pre-filing complaint process
⚖️Forced arbitration💬 Before you can even start arbitration or small claims, you must go through Coinbase's internal complaint process (up to 45 business days) or your claim gets thrown out.
“You must complete the Formal Complaint Process before filing any arbitration or small claims action. If you do not complete it, then you agree that your claim or action must be dismissed”
Loser-pays fee shifting in business arbitration
⚖️Forced arbitration💬 For business accounts, whoever loses arbitration pays the winner's full costs and attorneys' fees, which can make pursuing a claim financially risky.
“the arbitrator shall award to the prevailing party, if any, as determined by the arbitrator, all of its costs and fees... including the arbitrator's fees, administrative fees, travel expenses... court costs, witness fees, and attorneys' fees.”
Note: You can withdraw data-processing consent only by closing your account, but Coinbase may retain and continue processing your data if it believes doing so is legally required. Data rights are largely deferred to the separate Privacy Policy. You may withdraw funds for 90 days after account closure. Opt-out of texts is available via STOP.