Anonymous Whale Sues Coinbase for $55M in Frozen DAI from Scam
An anonymous cryptocurrency investor has initiated legal action against Coinbase regarding funds related to a phishing theft involving DAI that occurred in 2024.
Summary
- A prominent crypto investor claims that Coinbase has frozen DAI linked to a phishing incident, yet has not returned the funds.
- The plaintiff alleges that an Inferno Drainer attack led to losing approximately $55 million in DAI due to a fraudulent login page.
- This lawsuit may establish a precedent for how exchanges manage frozen cryptocurrencies when victims provide proof of ownership after the theft.
The plaintiff argues that the exchange froze identifiable assets but has refused to release them without a court order.
The lawsuit names Coinbase and an unidentified alleged thief. The investor, referred to as “D.B.,” claims to have lost about $55 million in DAI after unwittingly visiting a counterfeit page that allowed the attacker to gain access to his wallet.
Plaintiff claims stolen DAI was sent to Coinbase
The legal filing states that the incident took place on August 20, 2024. The suspected perpetrator employed Inferno Drainer, a phishing tool associated with wallet-draining schemes, to transfer DAI from the plaintiff’s wallet.
According to the filing, blockchain security firm Zero Shadow was able to trace a portion of the stolen funds back to a Coinbase retail account. Coinbase reportedly froze the assets upon being alerted but allegedly declined to release them without a court mandate.
While D.B.’s legal team acknowledged that Coinbase acted correctly in initially freezing the funds, they contend that its position became “unreasonable” once the plaintiff provided sworn proof of ownership.
D.B. is seeking a court order to compel Coinbase to return the identifiable stolen assets, although the exact amount held in the Coinbase account has not been specified in public documents.
Case echoes earlier $55M DAI theft
This lawsuit closely mirrors a significant DAI phishing theft reported in August 2024. During that incident, a prominent address lost $55.47 million in DAI after authorizing a fraudulent transaction, according to related reports.
The new legal action appears to be connected to the same 2024 event, with reports indicating that the victim hired blockchain investigators and that the stolen funds were subsequently traced to a Coinbase account.
The attack reportedly involved a fake DeFi Saver login page, and the victim claims he failed to notice the domain ending in “.app” instead of the legitimate one.
The attacker allegedly used additional wallets and laundering methods to move the stolen assets. The lawsuit now brings the recovery matter into federal court instead of relying solely on negotiation with the exchange.
Legal questions around fraud recovery advance
This case highlights a widespread challenge in recovering assets from crypto thefts. Exchanges often freeze suspicious funds when victims or investigators raise alarms; however, legal orders are usually necessary before assets can be released.
This practice allows exchanges to avoid mistakenly returning assets to the wrong party, but it can also delay recovery for victims who demonstrate clear ownership of identifiable assets.
The ongoing issue of fraud is serious, as a recent report indicated that the FBI’s 2024 IC3 data revealed total scam losses of $16.6 billion, with crypto investment fraud alone accounting for $5.8 billion.
Moreover, another update highlighted that U.S. Treasury officials have identified mixers, DeFi tools, and cross-chain systems as methods criminals might use to move stolen cryptocurrency.
As of the latest update, Coinbase has not publicly responded to these allegations. The court will now assess whether D.B. has provided adequate evidence to reclaim the frozen DAI.