This Agreement and any claim or dispute arising out of or relating to this Agreement or your use of the Coinbase Services will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California, without regard to conflict of law principles. Any dispute not subject to arbitration will be resolved exclusively in the state or federal courts located in San Francisco County, California.
If you have a dispute with Coinbase that isn't subject to arbitration, you would need to litigate in San Francisco courts under California law, which creates a significant practical barrier for users in other states.
Coinbase's User Agreement gives the company broad unilateral powers to suspend accounts, freeze funds, and reverse transactions with limited notice, directly affecting your access to your money and cryptocurrency. In the event of Coinbase's insolvency, cryptocurrency held in your Coinbase account may be treated as Coinbase's property under bankruptcy law, leaving you as an unsecured creditor rather than the outright owner of your assets. You can withdraw your cryptocurrency to a self-custodied hardware or software wallet to avoid platform insolvency risk, and you can opt out of mandatory arbitration by sending written notice to Coinbase within 30 days of first accepting the agreement.