Crypto Investor Sues Coinbase Over Misleading Dogecoin Campaign

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is currently being sued by a user because of an allegedly misleading Dogecoin campaign.

Coinbase User Seeks $5 Million In Damages

The Coinbase user named David Suski has filed a class-action lawsuit and is seeking $5 million in damages.

According to the legal document, the plaintiff said he was deceived into trading $100 of Dogecoin (DOGE) to enter into Coinbase’s $1.2 million Sweepstakes offer.

Apparently, the entry into Sweepstakes did not require one to purchase $100 of Dogecoin as it could be done free of charge. However, this was not disclosed by Coinbase due to financial gains, Suski claims.

Sweepstakes is a contest where prizes are given out through a lottery system to users of one of Coinbase’s products or services. The Dogecoin Sweepstakes, the plaintiff is contesting took place involved prizes worth $1.2 million in Dogecoin.

The company had sent out targeted emails to users about the sweepstakes detailing how users could enter the contest through trading.

The plaintiff alleges that the campaign was misleading because the mail did not include the fact that it cost no fee to enter the contest. The rule was not disclosed upfront and was only mentioned under a “rules and details” section.

Under the separate “rules and details” page, Coinbase stated that a person could also be eligible by mailing a 3×5-inch index card. The index card should have the customer’s name, address, email address, phone and date of birth written on it.

The plaintiff said in his filing that if the sweepstakes ads were made clear about a free entry option, he would not have given Coinbase $100. He said he didn’t need it as he already had 1,000 Dogecoin in an account with another company.

“The only reason that Plaintiff undertook to buy more Dogecoins from Coinbase was because the Company led him to believe that doing so was necessary to enter Coinbase’s $1.2 million Sweepstakes.” the class action complaint read.

Coinbase launched the Dogecoin Sweepstakes ad on the first day Dogecoin was listed for trade on the platform last month. This Coinbase listing led to a 30% jump in Dogecoin’s price at the time.

Coinbase’s Second Sweepstakes Campaign

The Dogecoin Sweepstakes campaign by Coinbase follows a similar Bitcoin bonanza. The exchange announced a $2 million Bitcoin (BTC) sweepstakes ad in April.

Unlike the Dogecoin promo that required users to spend $100, the Bitcoin sweepstakes only asked to sign up for a Coinbase account or mail in an index card.