Coinbase Faces Class-Action over Biometric Privacy

On May 13, 2025, three Illinois residents—Scott Bernstein, Gina Greeder and James Lonergan—filed a federal class-action lawsuit against Coinbase, alleging that its Know-Your-Customer (KYC) identity-verification processes violate the state’s Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). They claim that by requiring users to upload a government-issued photo ID and a selfie, then routing those images through third-party facial-recognition vendors (including Jumio, Onfido, Au10tix and Solaris) without first providing written notice or obtaining informed consent, Coinbase “wholesale[ly] collects […] faceprints” in clear breach of BIPA’s disclosure and consent provisions.

Moreover, the plaintiffs assert that Coinbase has never published a retention schedule or guidelines for permanently destroying biometric identifiers, another express requirement under BIPA. They further allege that over 10,000 individual arbitration demands over the same issue were dismissed after Coinbase allegedly refused to pay American Arbitration Association fees, effectively sidestepping those users’ claims. The suit seeks statutory damages of $5,000 per willful or reckless violation, $1,000 per negligent violation, injunctive relief, and reimbursement of litigation costs.

Poland’s Opportunity to Become a Crypto Hub

Meanwhile, in Katowice at the European Economic Congress, President of Binance Poland, argued that Poland is no longer a “niche” player but on track to become a major European crypto hub. Polish crypto-asset users numbered around 3 million just last year and may now exceed 4 million—remarkably close to the roughly 5 million retail brokerage accounts in the country—underscoring widespread adoption and public openness to digital-asset innovation.

Yet, Poland remains one of the few EU member states yet to implement local legislation to transpose the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation into national law. By integrating robust legal compliance for exchanges and crafting forward-looking domestic rules, Europe’s crypto ecosystem—including Poland—can both protect users and retain innovation in an increasingly competitive global landscape.