An Iranian national based mostly in Spain is suing a fintech agency in the High Court over the corporate’s alleged seizure of his $2.8 million (€2.4 million) in cryptocurrency assets.
Ali Asghar Afrouz (74) claims Coinbase wrongfully froze and seized his assets held in his account on the platform following purported issues in regards to the supply of his wealth.
In courtroom paperwork, Afrouz submits Coinbase instructed him his assets have been seized by US authorities following the execution of a warrant. He asserts that there aren’t any grounds for the seizure of his assets by the US.
Afrouz, with an tackle in Marbella, Spain, is suing Coinbase Europe Ltd and Coinbase Luxembourg SA, in search of the return of his assets.
Coinbase Europe’s dad or mum firm, Coinbase Group, is the most important cryptocurrency trade in the US and the world’s greatest custodian of Bitcoin. Coinbase Europe is regulated by the Central Financial institution of Eire.
On Monday, Choose Mark Sanfey agreed to confess the case to the fast-track Industrial Court on consent of the events.
In a sworn assertion to the courtroom, Afrouz stated that following his relocation to Spain in 2022, he offered a beachfront property in Iran for $3 million (€2.57 million). This transaction is the supply of the cryptocurrency at problem in the proceedings, he stated.
Afrouz stated he transformed the proceeds of the property sale to cryptocurrency with the help of a number of intermediaries. This was essential to entry his cash in Spain, he stated, because of sanctions towards the Iranian banking sector.
Afrouz stated he opened a Coinbase account in July 2025, and subsequently transferred the substantial sums of Bitcoin and Ethereum from a private pockets to his Coinbase account.
Coinbase then notified Afrouz that because of current exercise on his account, it required additional verification, and that his account could also be restricted if he didn’t take motion, Afrouz stated. The perceived lack of verification info was not outlined, he submitted.
His account was then locked “with none significant alternative to resolve the problem”, Afrouz stated.
The worth of the assets held in his account on the time was $2.83 million, he submitted.
He submits that Coinbase has adopted “a collection of wholly contradictory and irreconcilable positions” concerning his assets.
Regardless of notifying him of the purported everlasting deletion of his Coinbase account in September, the platform’s assist group emailed him in October stating that it was “actively engaged on resolving the problem”, and that he would obtain an replace following the completion of a evaluation of his case, Afrouz claimed.
The most “egregious” contradiction was Coinbase’s assertion in December that his assets have been seized by the USA Homeland Safety Investigations in August on foot of a warrant.
“I’m suggested and imagine that [Coinbase] both unlawfully retained my assets below the guise of an inside compliance evaluation whereas a overseas warrant was executed, or they’re now retrospectively counting on a overseas warrant to justify an arbitrary inside freezing of my account,” Afrouz alleged.
Afrouz submitted that he’s unaware of any warrant, and claimed there was “completely no grounds” for enforcement motion or seizure of his assets by the US.
Afrouz submits that he’s suggested Coinbase can’t arbitrarily seize on the instruction of a overseas regulation enforcement company “with out due course of in this jurisdiction”. He submitted that for a overseas seizure to be legally binding on an Irish registered entity, it requires a request to the Division of Justice.
Afrouz is in search of varied reliefs, together with an injunction compelling Coinbase to revive his account to allow the withdrawal of his funds.
