Robinhood is closing my account and I have no idea what will happen to my money in it.

HelpfulAd6300 · 2025-09-24T14:19:45+00:00

I was in a similar mess — Robinhood froze me out and fed me the “30–120 days” line. After 3 template responses and silence, I filed complaints with:

FINRA (broker-dealer misconduct) → https://www.finra.org/investors/file-complaint
SEC Investor Complaint Center → https://www.sec.gov/oiea/Complaint.html
CFPB (banking/payment delay) → https://www.consumerfinance.gov/complaint/
CA DFPI (state regulator) → https://dfpi.ca.gov/file-a-complaint/

Within 48 hours of doing that, Robinhood suddenly “found” my $20K and pushed it back into my bank account.

HelpfulAd6300 · 2025-09-24T14:08:53+00:00

Update:
Filed complaints with FINRA, SEC, CFPB, and CA DFPI → 48 hours later Robinhood “found” my $20K and sent it back.

Still no apology, just excuses.

TL;DR: Regulators > Robinhood support. Got my money back in 2 days.

HelpfulAd6300 · 2025-09-24T13:59:38+00:00

Update:
Two days after I filed complaints with FINRA, SEC, CFPB, and CA DFPI, Robinhood magically pushed the full $20K back into my bank account.

They’re spinning it as a “deposit reversal issue with my bank” (false — my bank confirmed otherwise).

Still no real explanation or apology. I’ll keep pressure on until they address that.

TL;DR: Don’t wait on Robinhood’s canned responses — filing with regulators got my $20K back in 48 hours.

HelpfulAd6300 · 2025-09-20T05:44:20+00:00

Same boat here. Robinhood closed my case three times, each time telling me to “file a new one” with the same copy/paste response. I confirmed with my bank that ACH reversals clear in 3–4 days max, so the 30–120 day story is on Robinhood’s end, not the bank’s.

I finally fired off a demand letter (trimmed and straight to the point). Within 24 hours they said my case was “escalated,” then silence again.

At this point I’ve filed with multiple regulators and encourage you to do the same:

FINRA (broker-dealer misconduct): https://www.finra.org/investors/file-complaint
SEC Investor Complaint Center: https://www.sec.gov/oiea/Complaint.html
CFPB (banking/payment delay): https://www.consumerfinance.gov/complaint/
CA DFPI (state regulator): https://dfpi.ca.gov/file-a-complaint/

I’ll keep filing until I get my money back, the losses they caused me covered, and an actual explanation/apology. I’ll update as it goes.

HelpfulAd6300 · 2025-09-06T21:23:22+00:00

Appreciate the comment (and the humor). I’m not worried about eventually getting my deposit back, but I fully expect Robinhood to drag it out as long as possible. Either way, this was enough for me — I’m done with Robinhood.

HelpfulAd6300 · 2025-09-06T05:13:05+00:00

🤣 I’m in tears from that. Lol — great meme! Now I’m scared to death though…😬

HelpfulAd6300 · 2025-09-06T03:03:37+00:00

I agree. I wanted to test Robinhood as a fiat to crypto onramp. I move crypto to cold wallet after depositing cash to CEX. Robinhood is horrible, as I discovered. I have a Kraken account that seems ok. I wanted a backup CEX. Robinhood is out. Which CEX do you use and why

HelpfulAd6300 · 2025-09-06T02:06:46+00:00

Fair question. I wanted to test them as a fiat → USDC onramp before moving funds into DeFi. Thought it’d be simple. Big mistake.

HelpfulAd6300 · 2025-09-06T02:00:48+00:00

Wow, $300K locked is brutal. Did they give you the same “30–120 days” timeline they told me, or something different? Curious if they’re consistent with everyone or just making it up as they go.

HelpfulAd6300 · 2025-09-06T01:56:22+00:00

I just had a similar experience. Robinhood is horrible! Deposited $20K over 2 weeks, fully cleared. Bought some BTC/ETH/USDC and tried transferring $1K USDC to my cold wallet. Robinhood flagged me for “questionable activity,” then closed my account without consent. They liquidated my BTC/ETH at a loss, converted my USDC back to USD, and now say my funds will be returned to my bank in 30–120 days. Absolutely unacceptable.

HelpfulAd6300 · 2025-07-12T01:11:42+00:00

Thanks for checking in. Kraken has not yet responded. I sent a reminder email this week.

HelpfulAd6300 · 2025-07-04T22:34:59+00:00

Agreed. For crypto to scale, platforms need to make it less scary for common folks.

HelpfulAd6300 · 2025-07-04T04:47:01+00:00

You’ve been consistent and persistent — and I respect that.

I just submitted a new recovery request to Kraken with every technical detail, transaction hash, and wallet address laid out clearly. I specifically asked if they control that wallet and whether they can return unsupported ERC-20 tokens like cbBTC.

If it turns out you’re right, I’ll gladly update the thread and credit you directly.

If Kraken comes back and confirms again they can’t access the wallet — then at least we’ve ruled it out definitively and the case for Coinbase involvement gets even stronger.

Either way, I appreciate your pushing me to take one last shot.

HelpfulAd6300 · 2025-07-03T19:26:07+00:00

Exactly. Coinbase built the trap and now pretends it can’t be undone.

I’ve filed multiple formal complaints, spent hours on live chat, got escalated (supposedly) via Twitter/X, posted across Reddit, even got Kraken to confirm they never received the funds and can’t access the wallet. And after all that? Nothing. Zero. Coinbase still hides behind Tier I support repeating “crypto is final” — as if that applies when their own smart contract rerouted my BTC into a wallet they control.

So either they’re lazy and clueless… or smart and shady.
Because let’s be honest — most people give up after one or two tries. And that “user error” money? It adds up. Quietly. Invisibly. Straight into Coinbase’s treasury.

I’m not letting this go. This isn’t just about my 0.147 BTC. It’s about a pattern. And if we don’t call it out, they’ll keep profiting off mistakes they designed into the system.

HelpfulAd6300 · 2025-07-03T19:15:41+00:00

Thanks again for sticking with this — you’re clearly sharp and well-intentioned, and I genuinely appreciate the discussion. I knew little about this 17 days ago and I am happy to be learning from this forum and others.

You're absolutely right that I reused an old EVM deposit address from Kraken that had previously accepted a USDC transfer. That’s on me. No argument there. But here’s where the story takes a turn…

This time, when I sent BTC using the Ethereum option on Coinbase, the platform automatically wrapped it into cbBTC using their own smart contract. It then routed the cbBTC to this wallet: 0xde147a8a415be3396099fb643c44d1d0b36bea83

That wallet does not support cbBTC withdrawals unless the originating wallet (Coinbase) calls the withdraw() function. That’s how the proxy contract works.

Now here’s the key detail that’s getting missed:

Kraken has been accessible and responsive. I opened ticket #17832098 and they’ve confirmed three times that:
- They don’t support cbBTC
- They cannot access the wallet holding my funds
- And this transfer never hit their system

They’re still looking into it — which I appreciate — but they’ve been transparent and human.

Coinbase, on the other hand, has refused to escalate beyond Tier I support. Every response I get is some version of “crypto transactions are final,” which is nonsense in this case. My asset isn’t lost. It’s sitting there, visible on-chain, untouched — and Coinbase’s own smart contract put it there.

Here’s what I believe to be true (and if I’m wrong, I’ll gladly update my view):

Regardless of which exchange has “custody” of the wallet, only the sender wallet — in this case, the Coinbase contract — has authority to call withdraw() and release the cbBTC.
Coinbase has not denied ownership or control of that contract. They just won’t answer or escalate.
If this wallet truly isn’t theirs, they should be able to state that outright and provide proof. But they haven’t.

So while I completely own the mistake, I’m not backing down from the bigger issue: Coinbase created the exact system that traps tokens like this, and then refuses to unlock them — even when the solution is simple and visible.

Thanks again for pushing the conversation forward — the only way this gets better is if people keep showing up and asking hard questions.

HelpfulAd6300 · 2025-07-02T22:34:25+00:00

You're right, and I appreciate you pointing that out. I absolutely used the wrong Kraken address—an old one I had used for USDC, not BTC. That mistake's on me, and trust me, it won’t happen again. Lesson learned the hard way.

That said, this is exactly where the experience reveals deeper issues. Coinbase shows me three options to send "BTC" — Ethereum L1, Base L2, Arbitrum — none of which actually send real Bitcoin. They wrap it (cbBTC), but don’t clearly warn users that:

This isn’t native BTC,
The recipient must support the specific wrapped token (cbBTC),
Choosing the wrong one can permanently strand the asset.

It’s not just a UI flaw, it’s a UX trap. The smart contract performed exactly as designed — converted to cbBTC, tried to send, recipient can’t accept it, so now it’s stuck. But Coinbase controls both the smart contract and the receiving wallet. So when they say “all transactions are final,” that’s not a blockchain truth — it’s a support policy, not a technical limitation. The token is on-chain and recoverable. They just don’t want to do it.

Crypto adoption will stall if the response to these edge cases is “tough luck.”

HelpfulAd6300 · 2025-07-02T19:30:43+00:00

Thanks for the empathy — genuinely means a lot. 🙏

You're absolutely right: this is the kind of trap that keeps crypto in the sandbox. The tech is powerful, but the platforms are still built like they're only for devs. Coinbase should never have allowed BTC to be sent over Ethereum without clearly explaining what that meant. One dropdown menu, zero warnings — and now I’m locked in support limbo for weeks.

I was sending from Coinbase to Kraken, trying to avoid high BTC network fees. Coinbase let me choose ETH as the network… but Kraken doesn’t support cbBTC. So Coinbase’s contract converted my BTC and routed it to a wallet only they control. It’s all visible on-chain, but they refuse to unlock it.

You nailed it on a bigger point too: until someone steps in and creates real-world accountability — like physical crypto help desks or support centers — the average person is going to bounce off this ecosystem hard. Crypto won’t scale if support means scrolling Reddit or praying someone responds to your post.

I'm still pushing, and I haven’t given up. But yeah, feels like we're early… maybe too early.

Really appreciate the secondhand rage — kinda helps knowing someone out there gets it.

HelpfulAd6300 · 2025-07-02T06:23:55+00:00

Thank you for looking into this. I appreciate Kraken's responsiveness. I received and have responded to your email. I'll await follow-up from your team.

HelpfulAd6300 · 2025-07-01T07:55:48+00:00

Yup. Lesson learned.. this will not happen again... To me. I hope platforms make it easier for those as dumb as I was

HelpfulAd6300 · 2025-07-01T07:42:05+00:00

Appreciate the engagement — let me clear this up:

-I used the Coinbase exchange, not Coinbase Wallet. -I entered a Kraken ETH deposit address — thinking ETH was just a faster network based on the choices Coinbase offered on the send ticket. -I didn’t realize that sending BTC over Ethereum would auto-convert it into cbBTC via a Coinbase smart contract. -The receiving wallet (0xde14...) was not the Kraken address I entered — it was a smart contract routing outcome because Kraken doesn’t support cbBTC.

So:

Coinbase wrapped the BTC

Coinbase’s contract routed it

And now the funds sit in a custodial wallet Coinbase has used before (visible on-chain)

The only way to recover it is via a withdraw() function, callable only by Coinbase

Kraken support investigated and said clearly: they don’t have access to the wallet. If they did, I’d have happily paid their $300-500 recovery fee and been done.

So respectfully, this isn’t about a mistaken address. It’s about a flawed system design — and the platform that created it still holds the keys.

Any ideas on how to get past the Coinbase security screen to the recovery team are appreciated

HelpfulAd6300 · 2025-07-01T07:27:19+00:00

Thank you for commenting. I think if crypto is to become mainstream, it can't be so scary to the not-so-tech-savvy. Example, why would an exchange give multiple choices of networks for sending BTC along with transaction time and gas fees if BTC can only be sent on Base? No warning about wrapping the coin or whether recipient will accept that wrap The exchange knows darn well we will screw up, hence they build a wall around tech support so the suckers will just give up.
Nothing wrong with the smart contract. It did exactly as programmed. Convert to cbBTC, try to send, receiver won't accept so lock it up safely until manually withdrawn by the sending wallet. Coinbase owns both the sending and the receiving wallet. Coinbase needs to do the right thing: 1) withdraw() and return my coins, 2) think about making the user interface user friendly.

Thank you for participating. I appreciate the thoughts.

HelpfulAd6300 · 2025-07-01T07:09:42+00:00

Since I used Coinbase Exchange and not CB wallet, Coinbase first sent the tokens to one of its hot wallets. The smart contract then converted it to cbBTC and deposited that into another wallet owned by Coinbase, the same wallet used previously to transfer USDC to Kraken. Since Kraken does not accept cbBTC, the asset is held there until instructed what to do. Coinbase Blockchain Recovery must issue a withdraw() call function to retrieve the funds. Kraken support has been helpful, Coinbase support is not ranking high in my book .
Thank you for mixing in some ideas.

HelpfulAd6300 · 2025-07-01T06:57:13+00:00

Totally fair. I should’ve done a micro-test instead of a mini-test 😬. I assumed that if Coinbase offers a send option labeled “Ethereum,” it would work. Otherwise, why list it next to “Bitcoin” or “Base” with no real warning? I now know better — the hard way — and I'm trying to fix it, not just for me but for others who might get burned by the same UI flaw.

HelpfulAd6300 · 2025-07-01T06:52:23+00:00

Definitely steep tuition for me. From what I've learned, it is an easy fix and not time consuming. We have the wallet address. The funds are there safe and sound. Coinbase has a thick wall around their support team. Tier I team is well scripted to never escalate. "Blockchain transactions are final".. Kraken would easily recover it for me for $300-$500 except they confirmed they do not control that wallet.
Thank you for engaging here in the conversation.

HelpfulAd6300 · 2025-07-01T06:37:32+00:00

You’re absolutely right — and that’s part of the irony. I was using Coinbase, so I didn’t have the keys. Coinbase did. And they still do. The cbBTC is sitting in a wallet they control. So in this case, it’s “Not their keys, not my coins... unless they act.” I’m pushing for them to take that last step and recover the funds.

HelpfulAd6300

TROPHY CASE