Coinbase tells users what happens to their crypto if it goes bankrupt, which could leave them last to get paid

  • A new company disclosure suggests that Coinbase users would be treated as general unsecured creditors in the event of a bankruptcy
  • Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong later clarified that the company is not at risk of going bankrupt

The mobile phone icon for the Coinbase app shown on April 13, 2021. Photo: AP

Coinbase Global Inc, like the rest of the cryptocurrency market, is having a really tough week. Not filing-for-bankruptcy bad, but the biggest US crypto exchange did just mention the B-word in a regulatory filing, giving its customers a painful reminder of how bad things could get for them if Coinbase ever does get seriously distressed.

In its quarterly report, Coinbase added a risk disclosure: if the company were to file for bankruptcy, the court might treat customer assets that the exchange is custodian for – their bitcoin, dogecoin or whatever – as Coinbase’s assets. And they’d be at the back of the line for repayment, forcing normal people, unaccustomed to the ins and outs of federal bankruptcy court, to claw back their money along with everybody else owed money by the exchange.

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