Bitcoin Forum

This is not a call for a move out of the purpose of righteousness but a practical call that Coinbase might become better and better in tracking your coins and might intrude in your privacy.

I reckon, maybe Brian Armstrong wants to be the Facebook of blockchain analytics hehehe.  

https://amp.businessinsider.com/images/5b2993dd1ae6623c008b45a5-750-375.jpg
Brian Armstrong, Coinbase CEO, the Zuck of the cryptospace

Coinbase, the largest US-based cryptocurrency exchange known for its ease of use and attractiveness to mainstream cryptocurrency users, has experienced some controversy as of late over their acquisition of Neutrino, a blockchain analysis startup that traces cryptocurrency transactions.

Neutrino was founded in 2016, and is a company based out of Italy that’s led by Giancarlo Russo, Marco Valleri, and Alberto Ornaghi.

The controversy surrounding Neutrino comes largely from the involvement of Valleri and Ornaghi, who before the establishment of Neutrino were executives of Hacking Team, an intelligence firm that sold spyware tools to government agencies around the world.

Hacking Team provided these tools to repressive regimes, including Sudan, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela, who allegedly violated international laws and used those tools to monitor and endanger political dissidents, journalists, and activists. Essentially, the company put aside their morals and sold spyware and surveillance tools to regimes that perpetrated human rights abuses.

Read in full https://www.investinblockchain.com/will-coinbase-lose-users-controversial-acquisition-neutrino/

Ambitions drives people to achieve something new and great but when too much could result to greed.

Brian Armstrong was a smart person and still is but I don't know why he just hastened everything, in just a short period of time he decided things that eventually resulted to angry users with #DeleteCoinbase boycott.

If he only just explain well his plans for the future of Coinbase before doing such things.

Coinbase is exploiting the relatively few options consumers have even at this point. While there may be alternatives out there for buying cryptocurrency, I find Coinbase convenient, but ideally I'd use a service with lower fees. I agree their Neutrino acquisition should raise eyebrows.

Coinbase is the new form of banks of the future and obviously like any bank it is also corrupted. but similar to banks we use them because they offer services that people need and want to use. in the end everyone has to realize what they are getting into. i wouldn't say "not to use" coinbase, just don't have any illusions about what you are using.

I already stopped using coinbase.

But at the end of the day, it's still depending to the users to decide if they want to continue using them as their service is convenient for most. Some probably will just follow the trend.

Thankfully we have our own local Bitcoin wallet in our country that our trusted for so many years, it has a low transaction fee too. But when storing some huge amount of bitcoin I preferred for a hardware wallet instead of online wallet, you never know sometimes online wallets are very prone to hacks. like any other exchanges that we have seen in recent months.

Coinbase will just become the next "Circle" or "Ripple", where they bend over to government pressure and greed to sacrifice their users. They hook you into their service with a bunch of empty promises in the beginning and over time greed cloud their basic principles and they completely change their business model to satisfy Banks and governments.  ::)

People are slowly getting fed up with their poor customer support and "PayPal" type decision making, where accounts gets blocked for one sided decisions that are made by centralized organizations that are government puppets.  :(

I am using Coinbase just for the purpose of storing and I haven't had any problem so far, But I never had a chance in using Coinbase Pro I thought I can have a problem in using it so I'd used Binance instead, But after seeing this news I had a second thought of really using Coinbase, But in my perspective I think all Exchange have a hidden agenda and we as humans surely have something that might come up in violating their authority over something or someone which that is a decision we as human make, And If Coinbase would turn to be that way then I think there is karma that will punish them in the End,

I have already left coinbase for some problems. Coinbase is a third party wallet and i don't trust on any third party wallets. Neutrino's co founder previously worked in a hacking team, which is a matter of concern about security.

If you are lazy enough and planning to store your coins in a third party wallet you might understand the risks as we have seen many hacks in this market and if they purchase something to track and monitor the movement of coins then each and every customer can decide whether to continue with them.

He might have worked in a hacking team but that does not make him a bad guy. Unless he has any legal  troubles in the name of hacking or exploiting for his benefit.

The good news about this ecosystem is that there is an ground for everyone. If coinbase is trying violate the set down consensus of cryptocurrency, there is no problem, We have some many other platforms that will soon perform better than them. Lets just make sure we are spreading the right information so that we will not misunderstand their motive.

I'm not using Coinbase since 2016,when I had issues with logging into my account and getting back my bitcoins.They are becoming more and more centralized and regulatory-frinedly(which ins't always a bad thing),but the regulations will become more and more strict,when it comes to tracking transactions and revealing your real identity.

This is a vital thing because when we fail and are wrong in choosing an exchange, it will greatly affect the sustainability of the assets we have. Choose an exchange that does have a good reputation, with a good reputation, so it is possible for an exchange to experience a bad thing like hacking. So if there are already bad signs then we should move to a credible exchange and guarantee the assets we have.

Why settle for Coinbase if we already have other wallets that can be alternative to it, considering it isn't available for some country but some really choose to use this because of convenience that they're getting.

This is just undeniably that everyone is after in the vulnerability of the wallets and this step of Coinbase will worsen their image.

I would use coinbase only if there wasn't any other alternative and even when i do that, I would only use coinbase to buy coins and withdraw immediately. Don't keep coins there, don't send coins there. Buy and withdraw only. And still, don't send more than a couple of hundreds.

Coinbase use has restrictions so I dont think it is a good idea then. Besides, a cold wallet is better especially if you have large amounts of coins. If needed specifically, trade fast enough to withdraw yuour coins immediately. Anything could happen to any wallet so coinbase is not an exemption.

Interesting article thanks for posting it mate.
I have been banned by Coinbase and not because I did anything wrong. 
I apparently failed my KYC so Coinbase thinks I was trying to scam them. 
Pure bologna and I hope no one uses their services. 

After all, it will end up just like Paypal 2.0 but in a form of the blockchain. Coinbase Indeed has a good UX design, many newcomers are having no difficulty setting up Bitcoin in Coinbase but that is not the point of Bitcoin.

The nature of Bitcoin is a pseudonym, and further technical advancement or third-app parties are required to regain anonymity. Bitcoin analysis and tracking tools will surely be having a hard time about it. and Also using web wallet is never recommended.

I stopped using Coinbase after problems with my account, they blocked me for several days.

Yep I heard about that.
Never was a big fan of Coinbase anyway. They've made successful investments and are doing very well but I don't trust them.
They're only useful for fiat transfers and for that we have other options now.

Good that I never used that. Greed truly is a big motivation. They never learned from Facebook. Let's see what happens when their customers start leaving them. It seems it not even safe to do a cash out there now.

That's why I don't use centralized exchanges anymore because they can track everything. Privacy is one of the purposes if cryptocurrency and limiting it would be bad in my opinion. Coinbase made a bad move this time I guess. Let's see what will be his next move.

All that Coinbase provides to its users has a price, and part of that price is renunciation of anonymity. Maybe they as company do not want to go so deep in that area, but since they are USA based company and it is about money (big money), their laws on the prevention of money laundering and the financing of terrorism are amongst the most cautious in the world.

In accordance with these facts, it is not strange that Coinbase moving through absolute control of its users. It is not only important from where your fiat is coming, they also want to know origin of your cryptocurrency.

The next situation is possible : You buy some bitcoin on any exchange or from your friend, and in some point you decide to sell it on Coinbase. But they analyzed coins and finds it to be dirty coins, means you lost account and money...

https://twitter.com/Aztek_btc/status/1101118512444039169

"Let's look at some #coinbase history:

CEO @brian_armstrong has been pro every major hijack of #bitcoin

#BitcoinCash & #Ripple insider pump investigation's.

Partnership with #Neutrino, who have a very questionable past.

#Coinbase = Government Honeypot

#DeleteCoinbase"

https://i.imgur.com/MsHIC4z.png

Apparently that hashtag #deletecoinbase is getting pretty popular.

https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/xwb7xj/coinbase-users-struggle-to-delete-their-accounts-in-protest?utm_source=mbtwitter

The fact still remains that Coinbase aren't interested in the structures lay down by Bitcoin but rather choose their ways to carryout operations so, never mind whose guts they choose, the government or privacy of investors. Still remember early days of Coinbase were they Blocked my first account without any substantial reason.    

Coinbase is quite popular but it need to be reliable. Some peoples trust on it and some neglect it. For the security purpose coinbase included KYC procedure and i read that mostly people want to rid off KYC and they want other alternative procedures.
  
Now coinbase demand has been decreased and people thought that its quite irritating now. But very few people want that coinbase should be more better for their users. So wait for the good moment..

Thumbs up.
Its manipulative. I hope I am using the right term for it.
The inviting website where you could cash in and out and also trade but for a higher fee.
I have not used my coinbase account for like 2 years. It hurts me to see how much they are going to charge me for every transaction.

This will be a story that will be passed on. From now on, their customers will go lower. No doubt about it.

    I do not understand why Brian Armstrong is so hurrying. After this information by which Coinbase acquired Neutrino, I am convinced that many will give up investing on this exchange. I advise you to use a hardware wallet for storage because they are safe for your investment over 100 years. Everything changes from day to day on online platforms, so our investments are not safe. I use a Ledger Nano hardware wallet and am very pleased.

i like the highlighting glow you did on your post.  how'd you get it yellow???

What other options do we have to BUY coins from a Non Creepy coin vendor???? :-\ :-\ :-\ :-\ :-\ :-\

Coinbase is a good wallet for me before, but it was a long time since i stopped using it.
My reason is not because of that, the wallet is fine and the fee is low though, there are some feature that can't be use due to country restriction.
Or they are not opening it for people in my country.

Brian Armstrong has sold his soul to the devil

The sale of personal data has become the biggest trade in the world
Whether for commercial or political uses
Google Facebook Twitter in the foreground
If the news is correct, then, Coinbase will lose its reputation
And may lose a lot of its users.

Coinbase is a respected industry player in cryptocurrency market and won't violet it clients privacy without thinking of its outcome on it brand. I think looking to the future and the regulations of cryptocurrency might be in the interest of the giant firm to enable it control who come in and go out.

Why are you saying there are few options for users? I've never used coinbase, because I think it's restricted and my country, but also because I never really needed it! There are nice wallet providers like Blockchain.info and electrum, there are nice exchanges like bittrex and hitbtc. We also have online exchanges of the top cryptocurrencies to fiat bank account under reasonable conditions in my country. Spying on users is not okay. However, some people might not care about such things as privacy and support intervention, because sometimes it can prevent serious crimes from happening. Coinbase is still nice for those people.

I used coinbase but I never saved funds for too long in Coinbase, actually I didn't have a problem all this time and I felt comfortable because what I understand is that coinbase keeps 98% of customer funds stored offline to prevent theft, but by reading op articles I made a judgment

I am USA based I use coinbase since I want full disclosure on my identity to USA government.

Plus the USD I keep with them is insured by USA government  up to $250,000

If you don’t live in the USA maybe you should use someone else.

#DeleteCoinbase
https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-delete-coinbase-neutrino-crypto?amp

Good to see your information and I think it will help me a lot. Cheers.

People who used Cryptopia also haven't had any problems until the bitter end.

 I had some BCH on Coinbase because they lured me in by saying they will fork it for me and add SV to my balance but we all know how it went. There are much better exchanges with much less KYC. I went to Binance and were able to trade SV for BTC without having to fill any forms or give them my ID. It's a much better exchange than Coinbase.

I do not understand this: " Do not use Coinbase "

no offense, but this gets to be funny. Most people make KYC in exchanges where the owners of the exchanges are anonymous people, so now they are complaining about coinbase? why the hell people do not complain about the exchanges that the owners are anonymous and ask their customers to make KYC?

Agreed. However, we the lowly forum cave trolls who know more bitcoin information than some of the smartest financial gurus in the world should be guiding everyone on what services are advisable and what services should be avoided. That should never ever stop, I reckon.

That's what I (kinda) said in this related thread: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5115442.0 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5115442.0)

People can tolerate KYC and entrust their funds to a centralized service that obviously shares their data to Gov'ts but become ultra sensitive on such recent actions.
Don't know if this "#DELETECOINBASE" thing is an organized slandering move by a group or real users protesting.

By the way, I'm not using Coinbase, ever.

Stopped using coinbase a long time ago and never looked back. There are plenty of options now as you said.

So what are the top exchanges these days for anyone in the US who would like to withdrawal at least some of their crypto assets to fiat at some point?

to me, the point is not "do not use coinbase" but rather "be careful how you use coinbase".

they have been infamous for years for shutting down accounts of users who transact with gambling sites, darknet markets, etc. i wouldn't be surprised if they reported accounts to law enforcement too. they have already been hiring blockchain analysis companies for years---now they are just scaling up and buying one instead of contracting the work out. nothing new here. even if you do nothing illegal or morally questionable, it's important to recognize that coinbase has always policed their users' transaction histories much more actively than other exchanges.

i use coinbase pro for long term trading and holding USD but i never send coins there from outside sources. it's just not worth the risk.

As long we do know that the things we are involved on wont really be illegal and i dont see any problems with that for you to be able to get worried on using their platform.
It do only removes gradually the essence on why Crypto is being created due to kyc and other centralized behavior.

It always depend on users preference if they would like to use it or not but the fact there are still people who do like on using up their service even they do already know the risk.

I hate that withdrawals on coinbase are holding for a few days. I stopped using coinbase after it. It's better to trade or make exchanges on instant services, like changenow.