U.S. Supreme Court agrees to hear Coinbase arbitration dispute

(Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear Coinbase Global Inc's bid to halt two lawsuits the company contends belong in private arbitration by customers who accused the cryptocurrency exchange of failing to protect their funds from theft and deceptively marketing a Dogecoin sweepstakes.

The justices took up Coinbase's appeal of lower-court rulings rejecting the company's request to have the two proposed class actions put on hold at the trial court level while it appeals decisions by judges to not force the customers to arbitrate their claims.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Mark Porter)