In entering a ruling this week in favor of Coinbase Global Inc. involving a class action in excess of $5 million, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit clarified a recent U.S. Supreme Court precedent finding that when a party requests a stay in a dispute subject to arbitration, the district court has no discretion to deny it.

Steven Ragland, a partner and associate general counsel at Keker, Van Nest & Peters, represents the defendant, Coinbase, in a case that the plaintiffs, Dallas Woody and Peter Hrehorovich, appealed to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California over its ruling compelling arbitration.