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00:00OUR OWN CONTRIBUTOR SONALI BASAK IS BACK WITH US. JOSHUA, HOW DO YOU TACKLE A LAWSUIT LIKE THAT? JOSHUA: EVERYBODY TALKS ABOUT CLASS-ACTION IN ALL THESE COMPANIES LIKE CELSIUS AND THEY SAY YOU CAN SOOTHE THEM IN FEDERAL COURT. BUT THERE IS A LOOPHOLE THAT SAYS YOU CAN SOOTHE THEM IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT. MY COMPANY AUTOMATES SMALL CLAIMS COURT LAWSUITS. THOUSANDS OF DECENTRALIZED CRYPTO LAWSUITS. ED: I WENT TO LAW SCHOOL, BRING ME BACK TO BEGICH -- ACTIVE BASICS. WHAT IS A CHAT BOT LAWYER? > > DO NOT PAY ' S COMMISSION IS TO IT -- MISSION IS TO EMPOWER THE CONSUMER TO FIGHT ACT. WE HAVE BEEN TAKING ON COMPANIES LIKE EQUIFAX. WHEN THEY DON ' T REFUND YOUR MONEY, CONSUMERS COME TO US AND WE DECIDED WHY NOT HELP CONSUMERS GET JUSTICE AGAINST CRYPTO COMPANIES? SONALI: WHY HAVE YOU CHOSEN TO MOVE TO CRYPTO COMPANIES? THERE ARE A LOT RIGHT NOW AND MANY ARE FREEZING WITHDRAWALS. IF YOU ARE A CRYPTO CUSTOMER THAT IS PART OF THAT PAIN, IT IS NOT LIKE YOU HAVE A LOT OF MONEY LEFT OVER TO SPEND ON A LAWSUIT LIKE THIS, SO WHY HAVE YOU MOVED OVER FROM OTHER FORCED ARBITRATION CLAUSES INTO THIS WORLD? JOSHUA: SMALL CLAIMS COURT CAN GET CONSUMERS BETWEEN $10,000 AND $25,000 AND IT IS A VERY EASY ROSS S. A JUDGE WILL OFTEN SIDE WITH THE CONSUMER IN THEIR LOCAL JURISDICTION BECAUSE THEY FEEL BAD FOR THEM. IF CELSIUS DOESN ' T SHOW UP TO ALL THESE SMALL CLAIMS COURT LAWSUITS ACROSS THE COUNTRY, THE CONSUMER WINS BY DEFAULT. BECAUSE IT IS SUCH AN EASY PROCESS, IT ONLY TAKES A MONTH OR 21 ALLOWS THE CONSUMER TO GET JUSTICE BEFORE THESE COMPANIES DECLARE BANKRUPTCY, WHICH IS LOOKING LIKELY. SONALI: WHAT IS THE LIKELIHOOD OF RECOUPING FUNDS AND HOW COSTLY WILL IT BE FOR CELSIUS? JOSHUA: CELSIUS HAS TO SENTENCE SOMEBODY HAS TO SEND SOMEBODY IN EVERY CASE, EVEN IF IT IS $1000. THERE ARE 1500 LAWSUITS AGAINST CELSIUS IN THE COUNTRY, EVEN IN RURAL TOWNS, AND THEY HAVE TO SEND A LAWYER JUST TO DEFEND THEMSELVES. IN MY OPINION, I DON ' T THINK THEY WILL END THE CONSUMERS WILL WIN. AT AN AVERAGE $10,000 A LAWSUIT, THESE ARE GOING TO COST THEM MILLIONS. THESE ARE SMALL RETAIL INVESTORS GETTING THEIR MONEY BACK. AND ONCE A JUDGMENT IS GOTTEN IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT, YOU ARE AT THE FRONT OF THE LINING A BANKRUPTCY PROCEEDING, SO IT IS GOOD THAT SMALL RETAIL INVESTORS CAN BE AHEAD OF INSTITUTIONAL INVESTORS IF THINGS GO BAD WITH THESE BIG PLATFORMS. ED: CAN WE TALK ABOUT WHAT ARE? -- TALK ABOUT WINTER -- TWITTER? THERE IS A LOT OF TWEETING ABOUT CRYPTOCURRENCIES, ELON MUSK BEING THE EASIEST EXAMPLE, BUT MARKETS SEEM TO MOVE ON TWEETS. WHAT IS YOUR TAKE? JOSHUA: EVERYTHING YOU SAY ON TWITTER HAS TO BE LEGAL AND HAVE THE SAME STANDARDS AS EVERYTHING YOU SAY IN REAL LIFE. PEOPLE THINK JUST BECAUSE IT IS AN ONLINE PLATFORM, THEY ARE NOT HELD TO THE SAME STANDARDS, BUT THEY REALLY ARE. WE HAVE SEEN THIS IN CRYPTO FRAUD. WE HAVE USED TWEETS IN THE PAST AND LAWSUITS AND IT IS THE SAME WITH SEC VIOLATIONS AND THINGS LIKE THAT. SONALI: THAT IS A FASCINATING QUESTION ABOUT TWEETS IN REGARD TO CUSTOMERS GETTING MONEY BACK END DISTORTIONS IN THE MARKET. THERE ARE QUESTIONS ABOUT EVEN SOME OF THE ADVERTISING CRYPTO FIRMS HAD DONE PRIOR TO PAUSING WITHDRAWALS. WHAT EVIDENCE DOES NOT CREATE FOR THE RETAIL INVESTOR IN TERMS OF BEING ENCOURAGED TO PUT THEIR MONEY INTO SOMETHING THAT WAS NOT GOING TO WORK OUT LATER? JOSHUA: IF IT SEEMS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, IT PROBABLY ISN ' T A LOT OF THESE PLATFORMS WEREN ' T ADVERTISING THE RISKS OF GETTING A 20% INTEREST RATE PROPERLY. THEY WERE SAYING THINGS LIKE YOUR MONEY IS SAFE, YOU CAN GET IT BACK QUICKLY, AND EVEN THOUGH THEY ARE BURIED IN THE TERMS OF SERVICE, THEY HAVE ALL THESE SPECIAL CLAUSES. THAT IS NOT CLEAR WRITTEN CONSENT BASED ON MY FTC GUIDELINES. IF YOU ARE NOT CLEAR WITH THE CONSUMER, YOU WILL FACE THIS LITIGATION AND REGULATORY PROBLEMS IF THINGS GO BADLY. ED: A PRETTY UGLY CHART IS ON THE SCREEN. BITCOIN YEAR-TO-DATE, ONE YEAR, DOWN A LOT. THAT IS PART OF THE STORY. TO USE SONALI ' S FAVORITE WORD -- REGULATION, DO YOU THINK WE WILL SEE MORE REGULATION IN THE SPACE? JOSHUA: I THINK WE WILL. SO MANY PEOPLE WILL LOSE SO MUCH MONEY, PEOPLE WILL WRITE TO THEIR CONGRESSMEN. DO NOT PAY DOES THAT AS WELL. SONALI: WHAT IS DO NOT BY ASKING FOR REGULATION HERE? THERE IS A SENSE THE SEC MIGHT COME HARD -- MIGHT COME DOWN HARDER ON THE ENFORCEMENT SIDE THAN THE REGULATORY SIDE AND CREATE NEW RULES. JOSHUA: CRYPTO COMPANIES GENERALLY HAVE MONEY TRANSMITTER LICENSES, WHICH IS A LOW STANDARD OF REGULATION. THEY ARE BEING A BROKER-DEALER. AT LEAST, WE WOULD ALL WANT TO BE LICENSED AS BROKER-DEALERS VERSUS MONEY TRANSMITTER SAID THAT WOULD LEAD TO MORE DISCLOSURES AND CONSUMERS FEELING BETTER PROTECTED. AND THERE ARE A LOT OF COMPANIES LIKE COINBASE WHO WOULD GO IN THAT DIRECTION BUT PLAYERS LIKE CELSIUS THAT SPECULATE WITH FUNDS MIGHT NOT SURVIVE.

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The Big Mess of Crypto Lawsuits

DoNotPay CEO Joshua Browder joins Bloomberg's Ed Ludlow and Sonali Basak to discuss the rising number of crypto lawsuits - this as the recent market turmoil is bringing serious pain to investor portfolios - and how legal services chatbot DoNotPay wants to help the average crypto investor get their money back. (Source: Bloomberg)

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