In a dramatic case that underscores the vulnerabilities of digital finance, a man from Cocoa Beach, Florida has filed a lawsuit against a major cryptocurrency exchange for failing to protect his assets from identity theft. On December 10, 2024, Mark Minich lodged a complaint in the Superior Court of California, County of San Francisco, accusing Coinbase, Inc. of negligence and multiple legal violations after $600,000 was stolen from his accounts.
Mark Minich's ordeal began on March 30, 2020, when he received an alarming text message from AT&T about an unauthorized device added to his account. Despite taking immediate action by contacting AT&T and flagging the issue as fraud, the situation escalated overnight. By March 31st, Minich discovered his phone service had been cut off and his email compromised. In a swift move to secure his finances, he changed passwords and froze funds in his Coinbase account with help from his wife’s Google Authenticator app. However, this did not prevent subsequent breaches that resulted in substantial financial losses.
The plaintiff claims that Coinbase failed in its legal obligations under several statutes including the Electronic Fund Transfer Act (EFTA), California Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), and California Business & Professions Code § 17200. He asserts that Coinbase did not promptly credit or investigate the unauthorized transactions as required by law. Furthermore, Minich accuses Coinbase of engaging in unfair business practices by denying unauthorized transaction disputes without reasonable inquiry and maintaining sub-standard security protocols.
The narrative took another twist on December 8, 2023, when Minich was contacted by someone claiming to be a Coinbase representative who alerted him to an attempted breach from Germany. This interaction led to further security measures being taken; however, it also coincided with another massive breach where all funds were siphoned off both from his Coinbase account and Exodus wallet through remote access software installed on his laptop under dubious circumstances.
Minich is seeking comprehensive relief including actual damages for the stolen funds plus emotional distress compensation. He demands statutory and punitive damages alongside treble damages for willful misconduct by Coinbase. The lawsuit also calls for injunctive relief to prevent future similar occurrences by compelling Coinbase to improve its security measures and handling of unauthorized transaction disputes.
Representing himself pro se in this legal battle is Mark Minich with no listed attorneys at this stage. The case is presided over by judges at the Superior Court of California under Case ID CGC-24-620480.