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My account was suspended or banned

If your account has been suspended or banned, you'll see one of these errors when you try to sign in or place an order:

  • ACCOUNT_SUSPENDED (HTTP 423) — temporary. The response includes a Retry-After header indicating when the suspension ends.
  • ACCOUNT_BANNED (HTTP 403) — durable. No automatic end date.

This article explains the difference and how to appeal.

Why this happens

The most common reasons:

  • Suspected fraud or abuse — payment chargebacks, multi-account abuse of promotions, attempts at wash trading, attempts to bypass self-exclusion.
  • Compliance issues — accounts where the geographic restrictions of a campaign were violated, or where required identity checks failed.
  • Terms-of-service violations — automated abuse of the API, attempts to exploit security issues, harassment of support staff.
  • Account safety — if we detect a likely takeover (unusual access patterns, repeated failed MFA), we suspend pending review.

We don't suspend accounts on a whim. There's always a triggering event, and the suspension is logged with a reason on our side.

What you can still do

  • Sign in is allowed for suspended accounts (so you can read this article and contact support). Banned accounts are blocked from sign-in entirely.
  • Withdrawing existing balance: depends on the reason. For safety-driven suspensions and for most bans, withdrawals stay open so you can recover funds. For active fraud investigations, withdrawals may be temporarily held.
  • Trading is blocked in both cases.

How to appeal

  1. open a support ticket from the email address linked to the account (or, if no email is linked, sign a message with the wallet on the account and include the signature).
  2. Include the address tied to the account.
  3. Briefly describe what happened from your point of view. If you know the triggering event (e.g., "Coinbase reversed a deposit yesterday"), say so.
  4. Don't submit multiple parallel appeals — one is faster than five.

We aim to respond within 1 business day on weekdays. Complex investigations take longer.

Outcomes

  • Reinstatement — if the trigger was a misunderstanding or resolved (e.g., the chargeback reversal was reversed itself), the suspension is lifted. We typically email confirmation.
  • Confirmation — if the original reason holds, the suspension or ban stands. We tell you why so you understand.
  • Permanent ban — for severe or repeated violations. Withdrawal paths remain open unless funds are subject to a legal hold.

What we won't do

  • Lift a self-exclusion. See Self-exclusion.
  • Override a legal or compliance hold without satisfying the underlying requirement.
  • Discuss other accounts' bans or take action against another user on your request.

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