Crypto whale sues Coinbase over refusal to return stolen DAI tied to $55M phishing hack, despite exchange freezing funds and demanding court order to verify ownership

An anonymous crypto “whale” identified in court documents as D.B. has filed a federal lawsuit in California against Coinbase and a “John Doe” defendant after losing roughly $55 million in DAI in an August 2024 phishing incident. According to the complaint, D.B., a large DeFi user based in Puerto Rico, was tricked into connecting his wallet to a fake DeFi Saver login page created using a tool called Inferno Drainer, which allowed the attacker to drain tens of millions of DAI from his wallet. Blockchain forensics firms hired by the victim, including Zero Shadow, later traced a portion of the stolen DAI to a Coinbase retail user account. Coinbase subsequently froze the traceable funds once notified but declined to release them back to D.B. without a court order establishing legal ownership. The lawsuit argues that Coinbase’s initial decision to freeze the funds was appropriate but claims the exchange’s continued refusal to return them is “unreasonable” now that D.B. has provided sworn evidence of his ownership and submitted detailed tracing reports. Coinbase, according to the filings and secondary reports, has taken the position that it cannot unilaterally decide ownership in a theft dispute and will only move the frozen assets pursuant to a judicial directive, effectively forcing the victim to litigate to recover the funds. The case highlights a growing legal and operational tension for centralized exchanges: when stolen crypto is traced to a KYC’d account, platforms may be able to freeze assets relatively quickly, but face legal, regulatory, and liability risks in deciding whether—and to whom—to release them without explicit court guidance. The outcome could shape future standards for how exchanges handle recovery claims tied to large on‑chain thefts and stablecoins like DAI, particularly as regulatory regimes such as MiCA for stablecoins gain prominence.

✨ AI-generated background, compiled from web sources — not editorial content.

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