Coinbase Acknowledged Unauthorized Account Access But Still Says I Owe $2,713.88. Would You Take This To Small Claims?

Location: Dayton, Ohio

I had an issue where my Coinbase account was accessed without authorization after my Google account was compromised.

An unknown person gained access to my Coinbase account and:

• Sold my BTC
• Purchased a fraudulent coin that existed for around 1hr before disappearing
• Used linked bank funding sources to make more purchases of that coin
• Created a negative balance in my account after bank transactions were later reversed due to fraud investigation

I reported the issue immediately to my bank, Coinbase, and filed a police report.

My bank ultimately determined the transactions were fraudulent and reversed the charges.

Coinbase also conducted an investigation and stated that the activity was unauthorized and that the login came from an unfamiliar device/IP, the details of which I provided to the police. However, they are still holding me responsible under their user agreement because the account credentials were used. I retain the 600,000,000+ of the fraudulent coins in my account which Coinbase refuses as payment. They want either USD, or the 2 main cryptos.

I was also a Coinbase One subscriber at the time which includes "account takeover protection". Their response was that Coinbase One protection only applies to unauthorized outbound crypto transfers and not to what happened here because the attacker used my account to make purchases rather than sending crypto out to an external wallet. They infuriatingly told me "all assets remain in your account" which while true does not mean the value remains in my account.

Coinbase has now:

• Locked my account
• Applied a negative balance of over $2,700
• Refused reimbursement or even zeroing the amount owed
• Closed my complaint case

They also liquidated some remaining crypto in the account and applied it toward the balance.

I am trying to understand whether, in situations like this, small claims court is a realistic option or if user agreements generally make recovery unlikely/impossible. Should I seek only removal of the negative balance and reimbursement of the crypto Coinbase liquidated or should I pursue more such as my 15+ months of Coinbase One monthly fees?

I’m not asking for formal legal advice, just general guidance on how these types of disputes are typically handled. If I just close the account will it just go to collections? I have very good credit and would like that to not happen. I can provide more details if it would help.