Coinbase restricted my account - $47K locked, compliance review hell

Coinbase restricted my account 3 weeks ago with zero warning. I have $47,000 in BTC and ETH that I can't access.

Got an email saying my account is "under review for compliance purposes" and I need to provide documentation. I've submitted:

• Driver's license (front and back)
• Bank statements showing source of funds
• W-2s from my employer
• Written explanation of how I acquired the crypto

Radio silence for 3 weeks. Support tickets get automated responses. Can't withdraw, can't trade, can't do anything.

What are my options here? This is a life-changing amount of money for me and I'm freaking out.

This happened to me last year with $12K locked. Took 6 weeks to resolve. They're probably doing enhanced due diligence (EDD) because you hit some threshold or pattern they flag.

Keep all your documentation organized and keep pestering support. Eventually got escalated to a real person who cleared it.

Coinbase is required to comply with Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and anti-money laundering (AML) regulations. When they flag an account, they have legal obligations to investigate before allowing transactions.

Common triggers include:

• Large sudden deposits or withdrawals
• Transactions to/from high-risk jurisdictions
• Patterns consistent with structuring or money laundering
• Inconsistencies between account activity and stated purpose

Did any of these apply to your situation?

I did make a large deposit recently - $35K from selling some stock. Bought BTC with it. That was probably the trigger.

Everything is legitimate. I work in tech, sold company stock that vested, wanted to diversify into crypto. Have all the documentation showing the stock sale.

How long can they legally hold my funds? There has to be some limit right?

Unfortunately there's no hard time limit. The Coinbase User Agreement (which you agreed to) gives them broad discretion to restrict accounts during investigations.

That said, if they hold funds for an unreasonable period without explanation, you may have claims for breach of contract or conversion. But litigation is expensive and slow.

Better approach: Document everything meticulously and escalate through their complaint process. If you've submitted source of funds documentation from legitimate stock sales, they should clear you relatively quickly.

Adding to Jennifer's points - make sure the documentation you submitted clearly shows the chain of custody for the funds:

1. Stock sale proceeds hitting your bank account
2. Transfer from your bank to Coinbase
3. Purchase of crypto on Coinbase

They need to verify this isn't layering (moving money through multiple transactions to obscure its origin). Showing it's a simple stock sale → bank → Coinbase flow helps.

Also file a formal complaint through their official complaint process (not just support tickets). They have to respond to formal complaints within specific timeframes.

Good point about the chain of custody. I have:

• Schwab statement showing stock sale on June 10
• Bank statement showing deposit from Schwab on June 12
• ACH transfer to Coinbase on June 15
• Coinbase transaction history showing BTC purchase June 18

Should I compile all this into one PDF and resubmit? Also where do I file a formal complaint vs support ticket?

Yes, compile it into one clear PDF with a cover letter explaining the timeline. Make it idiot-proof for the compliance reviewer.

For formal complaint: https://help.coinbase.com/en/coinbase/other-topics/other/how-to-send-a-complaint

Also tweet at @CoinbaseSupport. I know it sounds dumb but public pressure sometimes gets you escalated faster than the normal queue.

If you exhaust the complaint process and still get nowhere, you can:

1. File a complaint with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)
2. File with your state's financial regulator
3. Check if your User Agreement has an arbitration clause - you may be required to go to arbitration rather than court

CFPB complaints often get faster responses because companies have to respond within 15 days.

Update: Submitted the comprehensive PDF with full chain of custody documentation through formal complaint process. Also tweeted at them (felt silly but whatever).

Going to give them until end of next week before filing CFPB complaint.

In the meantime, make sure you're documenting absolutely everything:

• Screenshots of all support tickets and responses
• Dates/times you submitted documentation
• Any phone calls (note date, time, who you spoke to)
• All emails from Coinbase

If this goes to arbitration or litigation you'll need a detailed timeline.

RESOLVED! Got an email this morning that my account has been cleared and restrictions removed. Able to access everything now.

Total time: 4 weeks from restriction to resolution. The comprehensive PDF with chain of custody definitely helped. Not sure if the Twitter callout did anything but worth trying.

Thanks everyone for the advice. Moving most of my holdings to a hardware wallet after this experience. Not going through this stress again.

Coming back to this thread because I'm dealing with basically the same issue right now. Coinbase locked my account claiming "suspicious activity" but I can see it's clearly because I moved funds from a DeFi protocol back to Coinbase.

The frustrating part is that Coinbase's own wallet app encourages you to interact with DeFi, but then their compliance team flags you for it. It's like they want it both ways.

Did you end up keeping your account with them long-term or did you switch to a different exchange? I'm seriously considering Kraken or Gemini at this point.