Bitcoin Forum

This is no surprise, our distrust in you is strengthened, we will make your analytics software obsolete

How one’s focus can shift in just two weeks! While today everybody in the Bitcoin space seems more concerned with price fluctuations in response to the global financial panic (understandably so), it’s important to remember perennial issues that never go away, like the importance of maintaining your privacy when you transact in bitcoin. Throughout this month especially, we’ve been hearing reports of KYC/AML-compliant exchanges freezing user accounts due to suspected use of CoinJoin software (more on that later), followed by yet another case of a famous and respected early Bitcoin proponent promoting his new illiquid altcoin as something that “will replace Bitcoin, which isn’t private enough!”

If you want to take a short break from global pandemics, financial meltdowns and price volatility, here’s an attempt at analyzing claims, facts and context of this latest “Bitcoin drama.” To begin with, in Part 1 of this two-part series, we’ll start by looking at the fundamental relationship between Bitcoin and privacy by going back to the beginning with the whitepaper. Then, in Part 2, we’ll focus on some the ways that Bitcoin privacy is being maintained and improved upon — and strike down a few “red herrings.”

In Part One of this treatise, we examined the fundamental relationship between Bitcoin and privacy by going back to the beginning with the whitepaper. In spite of some excellent privacy preserving options  that have been available to users since those early days, we seem to have taken a few wrong turns. But to fix it, in order to make Bitcoin’s privacy “great again,” we must be able to distinguish between real privacy and red herrings that can only lead us further off the path.

No one should be remotely surprised. The moment you enter Coinbase you're dropped straight onto the corporate cock from a great height and start rotating at speeds of up to 3000 rpm. They are the epitome of wannabe establishment, and wannabes are that much keener to get in The Man's good graces.

All users should plan accordingly.

do you think coinbase is angling to integrate their own user data into their analytics software? i assume that would violate various privacy laws.

i find this all depressing but also unsurprising. coinbase has been establishing a finger in every pie---wallet, exchange, merchants, custody, OTC, etc---while bowing to regulators at every turn. why not blockchain analysis too?

No one should be remotely surprised. The moment you enter Coinbase you're dropped straight onto the corporate cock from a great height and start rotating at speeds of up to 3000 rpm. They are the epitome of wannabe establishment, and wannabes are that much keener to get in The Man's good graces.

All users should plan accordingly.

do you think coinbase is angling to integrate their own user data into their analytics software? i assume that would violate various privacy laws.

I would sooner congratulate the Party for driving the adoption of telescreens in '1984' than Coinbase for "helping mainstream adoption of bitcoin."
Sucking people into a financial panopticon that represents the opposite of all principles we claim to hold is not worthy of praise.

Brian recently virtue-signaled about how he cares about black lives. How many black lives & families were destroyed through the DEA's multi-decade War on Drugs? How many non-violent offenders will be thrown in prison when Coinbase helps deanonymize them?

an interesting interpol report on wasabi wallet popped up in that jameson lopp thread: https://www.tbstat.com/wp/uploads/2020/06/Europol-Wasabi-Wallet-Report.pdf

key takeaways: wasabi coinjoins are easy to recognize but cannot be de-mixed unless you make a mistake like re-consolidating outputs afterwards. "suspects who avoid major slip-ups have a very high probability of staying undetected"

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i find this all depressing but also unsurprising. coinbase has been establishing a finger in every pie---wallet, exchange, merchants, custody, OTC, etc---while bowing to regulators at every turn. why not blockchain analysis too?

I hope that the true Bitcoin Core community will leave Coinbase and delete their accounts.
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an interesting interpol report on wasabi wallet popped up in that jameson lopp thread: https://www.tbstat.com/wp/uploads/2020/06/Europol-Wasabi-Wallet-Report.pdf

key takeaways: wasabi coinjoins are easy to recognize but cannot be de-mixed unless you make a mistake like re-consolidating outputs afterwards. "suspects who avoid major slip-ups have a very high probability of staying undetected"

I wonder how many of you who made comments here are still with coinbase ?

I'm only using CoinBase to earn referral commissions.

Just woken up and read through this thread , not what I wanted to read first thing on a Saturday morning .
Seriously thanks for this OP and others, it’s reminded me to delete my Coinbase account. I’ve only had one experience with them and never again!
All of this news does not surprise me and hope fully when I delete the account, all my data will be removed ??
Thanks for the heads up OP .

Coinbase is too simple to use for the noobs so I don’t think they’re ever going to get truly boycotted en masse.
Brian Armstrong is an asshole but assholes rule the world.

I wonder how many of you who made comments here are still with coinbase ?

Every centralised service will end up like this eventually. The difference is that most yield to it with some reluctance rather than running towards it like they are.

honorable mention for gemini:

unfortunately the p2p market really sucks at this point.

do you think coinbase is angling to integrate their own user data into their analytics software? i assume that would violate various privacy laws.

Using centralized exchanges to facilitate a decentralized network defeats the purpose. Also, deleting your account on coinbase would not get your personal information and data deleted, and if you still submit your data to other regulated websites you risk that data being sold at any time in the future to federal agencies.

Remember that Coinbase previously handed over some 13,000 users' data to the IRS. Why wouldn't they do it again?

Now with the recent european GDPR law I think you can ask exporting your personal data and have them delete it, not guaranteed they will do it however.

there is no company that would do that abecause they know it will ruin their reputation.

Someone European can correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought there was a "get out" clause when it came to financial transactions and dealings, which permits companies to continue to hold the details of their European customers even if they request deletion.

I used Coinbase pro for a bit of Bitcoin scalping, but they made it difficult for UK customers to fund their accounts, and now I have to jump through hoops and send various images to continue. I'm not too worried about the tax man, but I think Coinbase has gone too far with KYC. Couple this with their down time at critical trading moments, and I no longer believe that it is a suitable trading site for me, It's a great shame, as it was an inexpensive, fun site for me to try a bit of scalping.

67 isn't old, it's only middle age. :)

For HODLing, I think buying from other members in this forum may be the easiest option, but scalping with a trading account is fun, and it can reduce the cost of acquiring Bitcoun. I need to find an alternative, and I looked at Gemini, but that seems to be US dollar only.

A common misconception is that Coinbase is a Bitcoin company

 - supported hostile forks (XT, Unlimited, Classic, BCH, S2X)
 - CEO revealed he holds more ETH than BTC
 - promotes blockchain surveillance
 - encourages users to "actually use" bitcoin by buy altcoins

Drop Coinbase.

They've already partnered with the IRS and the DEA. It's clear they are keen to sell their blockchain analysis product to anyone who will pay for it, regardless of what the means for their users or the wider crypto space. Remember that the people who developed Coinbase Analytics are the same people who worked for Hacking Team and sold surveillance equipment and software to dictators and human rights abusers. They have no morals.

The only thing surprising to me is that Coinbase are only charging the Secret Service $183,750 for a 4 year contract. For a company with annual profits of over 500 million dollars, the less than $50,000 a year deal works out at less than 0.01% increase to their profits. It's nice to see they will sell their users out for chump change.

Coinbase are anti-bitcoin and anti-privacy. Delete Coinbase.

I'm also a curent Coinbase user anmd have been using them to fork coins like BSV in the past since I did not trust the software that they provided. Coinbase was always doing great and keeping my coins pretty safe.

I haven't stored anything big with them but I value my privacy and will never send them any of the Bitcoins that I'm holding offline. I'll have to find another less shady platform. The plan is to stop using them completely by the end of the month.

I'm also a curent Coinbase user anmd have been using them to fork coins like BSV in the past since I did not trust the software that they provided. Coinbase was always doing great and keeping my coins pretty safe.

I haven't stored anything big with them but I value my privacy and will never send them any of the Bitcoins that I'm holding offline. I'll have to find another less shady platform. The plan is to stop using them completely by the end of the month.

The plan is to stop using them completely by the end of the month.

That was some truly manipulative  and shady shit

I'd bet +60% of the people would choose the former.

probably two thirds of the entire currently existing Blockchain industry is against Bitcoin's fundamental ideas.

I think you are being incredibly generous. I'd put that figure at well over 90%.

Most people do not care about their privacy, like, at all.

Yup. And it's not just exchanges either, although pretty much every centralized exchange is becoming more like a fiat bank as time goes on. The biggest payment processor - BitPay - is also thoroughly anti-bitcoin, pro-KYC, privacy invading, etc. The most commonly used wallets - Blockchain.com, Coinbase, Coinomi, Trust wallet, coins.ph - are either custodial, closed source, or both. Even the majority of altcoins in existence are centralized scams.

(..) From the idea that Bitcoin could turn the economical and governmental systems of the world upside down, today I see it as nothing else but an obstacle the governments overcame long ago and for which they surely have a plan of attack so that it would never be a threat for them be it in the present or short and long term future.

(..) today we have laws that appear as if they are opposing more and more the fundamental ideas of cryptocurrencies - almost as if the intention behind these regulations was to destroy them while using this entire time the "cryptocurrencies are used in criminal activities" excuse.

This has changed, in my opinion, Bitcoin's destiny. (..) today I feel taken over by the world governments' regulations that ruthlessly entered my personal, private life.

The so-called "support" of cryptocurrencies by the states has proven, in my opinion, to be exactly the opposite. To be more precise, "sustaining" them has led to the resistance in front of genius Satoshi Nakamoto's essential ideas he began with. (..)

My friends are "buying" Bitcoin through Revolut now, they say it's much easier than having to learn everything about wallet creation and how the system works - and this is how the average person thinks.

I'd rather still have a little hope that it's not that bad yet. ;D

Well, they have nothing to hide, do they? :D

How one’s focus can shift in just two weeks! While today everybody in the Bitcoin space seems more concerned with price fluctuations in response to the global financial panic (understandably so), it’s important to remember perennial issues that never go away, like the importance of maintaining your privacy when you transact in bitcoin. Throughout this month especially, we’ve been hearing reports of KYC/AML-compliant exchanges freezing user accounts due to suspected use of CoinJoin software (more on that later), followed by yet another case of a famous and respected early Bitcoin proponent promoting his new illiquid altcoin as something that “will replace Bitcoin, which isn’t private enough!”

If you want to take a short break from global pandemics, financial meltdowns and price volatility, here’s an attempt at analyzing claims, facts and context of this latest “Bitcoin drama.” To begin with, in Part 1 of this two-part series, we’ll start by looking at the fundamental relationship between Bitcoin and privacy by going back to the beginning with the whitepaper. Then, in Part 2, we’ll focus on some the ways that Bitcoin privacy is being maintained and improved upon — and strike down a few “red herrings.”

In Part One of this treatise, we examined the fundamental relationship between Bitcoin and privacy by going back to the beginning with the whitepaper. In spite of some excellent privacy preserving options  that have been available to users since those early days, we seem to have taken a few wrong turns. But to fix it, in order to make Bitcoin’s privacy “great again,” we must be able to distinguish between real privacy and red herrings that can only lead us further off the path.

Maybe I do not sufficiently understand your assertion that you would have thought that Coinbase provided much if any kind of security or confidence in terms of potentially splitting shitcoins, such as Bcash SV, especially given how they had approached the Bcash forkening in the fall of 2017... at first (around early August 2017) they said that they were not going to give the Bcash, and then (around October 2017) they said that they were going to give credit for the forked coins (ones held on Coinbase as of August 1, 2017) sometime after December 31, 2017.  Then they ended up doing a surprise issuance of the Bcash on around December 20, 2017 and also fucked around with freezing the Bcash ticker price at around $9k while "innocently" proclaiming that the ticker just "coincidentally" got stuck there.  That was some truly manipulative  and shady shit that should have caused any potential coinbase customer to lose confidence in Coinbase's future treatment of forks..   Of course, if you were not aware of their bullshit and shady behavior in late 2017, as outlined above, then possibly you could have naively had confidence in their being a BIG business that should not (in theory) screw you in terms of forkenings... and even after all of their bullshit in late 2017, I recall ambiguous statements from them too, in regards to whether or not they would honor future forkenings and even their playing around with pre-announcement pumpenings of shitcoins that they might list in the future or their ongoing technical incompetence and refusal to improve aspects of their platform or their ways of performing bitcoin transactions.. so I am NOT sure how anyone can garner much if any semblance of confidence from those kinds of ongoing nonsensical crazy-ass coinbase statements and actions.. even some of the refusal of the CEO (brian armstrong) to use the word bitcoin.. hahahahaha.. ongoingly lost, distracted, perhaps incompetent and manipulative as fuck messages coming from coinbase for anyone paying any kind of attention to the matter.

Once you delete your account, you should also email them and request that they delete all data that they hold on you. Their compliance with this will vary depending on where you live, and they will almost certainly keep some data for a number of years for "compliance" reasons, but no reason to let them hold on to everything indefinitely.

Even if the deal should fall through, I am sure that a lot of people having concerns with Coinbase on this move have either not have anything to do with Coinbase or even moved on from them a long time ago since when it has been established that they are pro government and I won't even blame them because it's simply business. IRS on the other hand making this move really should be commended because it shows they are moving with the trend of things and blinded with how things were done in the past.

I know that some people who are deeply invested in crypto and at the same time want to do right by government and its agencies won't have any issue with this move. Quite a number of people wants to trade, make returns and pay their dues to government without any concerns or guilty of being involved in any shady activities would appreciate this move.

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Not your keys, not your bitcoins.
I don't care what they did or how. It was unethical. Censor transaction of a client could even mean a violation of the ToS.
Simply, better fall in a scam hodling your money in your wallet, than being babyguarded and having your transaction censored.
If you allow to censor your transaction once, you are allowing to do that everytime.
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We knew it would have happened sooner or later.
#deletecoinbase was a trend last year for a reason.
That is what just happened:

Coinbase wants to sell blockchain analysis software to the IRS and DEA a year after its Neutrino (https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/67551/coinbase-irs-dea-analytics-neutrino)

• Public records show that Coinbase wants to sell blockchain analytics software to the U.S. government
• Records indicate that the awards have not been made as of yet
• Both the DEA and IRS have expressed interest in awarding contracts to Coinbase for an analytics platform called Coinbase Analytics
• The developments come a year after Coinbase’s controversial purchase of intelligence firm Neutrino, and Neutrino is mentioned in the IRS documentation

Jameson Lopp pointed out correctly Bitcoin is already moving forward to make their heuristic techniques obsolete:

https://twitter.com/lopp/status/1269009773778939910?s=20


Bitcoin has all the technology now (coinjoins, payjoins, mixers, whirlpool etc...) to make their analysis more difficult.
The user has the obligation to usa all those means to improve their privacy and the one of all the other users.
Don't let them succeed in their plan to leverage their Neutrino acquisition, pursuing their plan of trading our privacy with their business model.


On this subject, there is a wonderful treatise by my fellow italian bitcoiner Giacomo Zucco:


A Treatise On Bitcoin And Privacy Part 1: A Match Made In The Whitepaper  (https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/a-treatise-on-bitcoin-and-privacy-part-1-a-match-made-in-the-whitepaper)


A Treatise On Bitcoin And Privacy Part 2: Don’t Be Misled By Red Herrings (https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/a-treatise-on-bitcoin-and-privacy-part-2-dont-be-misled-by-red-herrings)


I strongly recommend this reading, explaining why privacy is important for all of us.

Coinbase just does as it is profitable for them, they do not take into account any crypto canons.

Wow.
It shouldn’t surprise me too much, I saw it coming, but also shock me seeing it: Coinbase is selling blockchain analytics software to the US Secret Service (https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/71261/coinbase-is-selling-blockchain-analytics-software-to-the-us-secret-service)



They are trading your privacy for their survivorship.
You are not Coinbase Customer, your are their product.[/list]

Isn't this what many US companies do? Like Facebook and such? In part it's the very own framework that the US forces companies to work on. Not excusing them, it shouldn't be done. Look how hard apple has fought for their users privacy for example, it's a good way to deal with the government, better than coinbase's

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Most US companies, or rather most companies having US citizens as customers, are forced to disclose some kind of data to the US government when asked with a by law request.
Coinbase instead has made the "disclose your customer data" their core business, masked behind the "crypto exchange" business

In October 2020, Coinbase released its first-ever transparency report, and some of the information contained in this report should serve as a major wake-up call to taxpayers who have failed to report virtual currency held in this or another exchange in years past. The data shows that the IRS, and its Criminal Investigation Unit, has been one of the top receivers of information from Coinbase, alongside the FBI and CIA. This data makes it clear that the IRS is requesting information from Coinbase for the express purpose of checking it against its own taxpayer data and looking for discrepancies where holdings on Coinbase have not been reported on taxpayers' returns.

What else do you expect from a platform that is centralized? Centralized exchanges will always require you to do KYC and give your information to them, and then they will have all your information and know everything about you. When they have this kind of opportunity they are able to do whatever they want to do, as it pleases them.

If you’re the type of person that cares much about your privacy, by making use of Coinbase you have already given up on that privacy, because you’re going to give them those information about you.

Coinbase believes that trust is built through transparency and honesty.

Coinbase believes in protecting the financial privacy of our customers.

Are you surprised that Coinbase went down again with bitcoin was about to go to $17k and above? LMAO,

https://talkimg.com/images/2023/05/16/blob4b19d8f19ca6b017.png

https://status.coinbase.com/incidents/85j21s852sv2

And the recent outage really show that either is not really equip to handle large volumes (I doubt), or they intentionally goes into un-announce downtime or maintenance or whatever during bitcoin's upsurge.

Are you surprised that Coinbase went down again with bitcoin was about to go to $17k and above?

I do not get the point of selling the data to a government especially US.

If the reason US wants to crackdown on tax evasion and money laundering, they could have asked for a cooperation.

“The outage prevented me from submitting a buy limit order which would’ve been executed as the limit price was met. At this time the order finally went through but I missed the price for now.”

If Coinbase refuses to help them, then they will get the necessary help from somewhere else.

I don't buy that logic at all. What about the Electrum scammers? "Well, if we hadn't scammed these users and stolen their bitcoin, someone else would have, therefore it absolves us of all responsibility." I don't think so. Maybe the IRS would have looked elsewhere to find blockchain analysis technology, and maybe it would have been as good as Coinbase's, but that doesn't mean Coinbase can do what they like without any repercussions. And it certainly doesn't mean Coinbase can act all high and mighty about it like they are doing the community a favor by selling them out to the IRS.

Not only can we blame Coinbase here, but we should blame Coinbase. They went out of their way to acquire the necessary companies and individuals to develop this technology for their own profit. They are selling out their customers and the entire bitcoin world to line their own pockets.

Delete Coinbase.

-snip-

Coinbase is too simple to use for the noobs so I don’t think they’re ever going to get truly boycotted en masse.
Brian Armstrong is an asshole but assholes rule the world.

Don't forget Brian's Armstrong tweet as well

but it is a bad idea in practice because it is often impractical to collect identifying information on a recipient in the cryptoeconomy.

Finally, many recipients (in the U.S. or abroad) who value their financial privacy, may simply not want to upload more identifying documents to various companies, which could be hacked or stolen.

This would be bad for America because it would force U.S. consumers to use foreign unregulated crypto companies to get access to these services.

Quick Take

• Public records show that Coinbase wants to sell blockchain analytics software to the U.S. government
• Records indicate that the awards have not been made as of yet
• Both the DEA and IRS have expressed interest in awarding contracts to Coinbase for an analytics platform called Coinbase Analytics
• The developments come a year after Coinbase’s controversial purchase of intelligence firm Neutrino, and Neutrino is mentioned in the IRS documentation

Chainalysis - https://www.fpds.gov/ezsearch/fpdsportal?indexName=awardfull&templateName=1.5.1&s=FPDS.GOV&q=VENDOR_FULL_NAME%3A%22CHAINALYSIS+INC.%22
Elliptic - https://www.fpds.gov/ezsearch/fpdsportal?indexName=awardfull&templateName=1.5.1&s=FPDS.GOV&q=VENDOR_FULL_NAME%3A%22ELLIPTIC+INC.%22
Ciphertrace - https://www.fpds.gov/ezsearch/fpdsportal?indexName=awardfull&templateName=1.5.1&s=FPDS.GOV&q=VENDOR_FULL_NAME%3A%22CIPHERTRACE%2C+INC.%22
Coinbase Analytics - https://www.fpds.gov/ezsearch/fpdsportal?indexName=awardfull&templateName=1.5.1&s=FPDS.GOV&q=VENDOR_FULL_NAME%3A%22COINBASE%2C+INC.%22

Everything you say is correct, but that news article is over a year old.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has signed a deal with Coinbase to use its blockchain tracing software, Coinbase Analytics.

The current deal value is $455,000 for one year, but it can go up to a total amount of $1.4 million through 2024, according to government tracker USAspending.gov.

At the time, the company stressed that "the information offered in Coinbase Analytics has always been kept completely separate from Coinbase internal data."

Coinbase "is the only vendor who can provide the licenses required by the agency," it said.

For users in Singapore, all crypto transfers from a Coinbase user’s exchange wallet to an outside address will require the recipient's full name and country of residence. This will take effect on April 1, with Coinbase citing local Singaporean regulations.

And in Japan, all transfers of crypto assets to recipients outside of Japan must include the recipient’s name, address and destination wallet, according to the English translation of rules established by the Japan Cryptocurrency Trading Association (JVCEA). This will take effect on April 1.

<…>
This is totally mindblowing, it looks more and more like the traditional banking system... I wonder will other exchanges also have to comply with these laws? I'm guessing that Binance somehow will "evade" this rule as it has been evading others for a while now...

Coinbase confirms itself a pro-government organisation, even if they ask them aggressive actions against their customers:
Today this picture was all over Twitter:

If you leave your coins on an exchange, you leave yourself exposed to those aggressive practices.

Canadian government is now on a dystopian berserker after the “trucker incident”.
 Actually, honey badger doesn’t care.

Every exchange must abide to regulation. This is a certainty, the point is Coinbase always is the first to fully implement regulations, in the detrimental interest of his users.

Unless, as speculated, that real users of Coinbase are the Governments and tax agencies around the world.

<…>
Hit the nail on the head. Coinbase are going the same way of other large companies like Meta and Google - they are steadily transitioning to a data harvesting company. All the services and products they provide are really just a means to collecting and monetizing more data.

I've said it before, but where is the outrage? Where is the lobbying? Where is the fight? As usual, absolutely nothing from Coinbase other than complete and immediate submission and selling out their users in order to continue to line their own pockets.

Some spies of mine referred me  that Coinbase is selling their services to institutional customers exactly this way: ultra compliance safe, regulation abiding, even at cost of being slightly behind the curve regarding to products offering.

I was just thinking along the same lines of the post by RickDeckard above, but in relation to this point as well. We already know that Coinbase is anti-bitcoin, anti-privacy, pro-regulation, and pro-government by their ongoing work with the CIA, FBI, IRS, ICE, and a variety of other government agencies. It's no surprise really, when they are so happy to jump in to bed with the government, that they would be happy to jump in to bed with fiat banks and other institutions. Anything in the name of profit when it comes to Coinbase, to the detriment of all their users and even to bitcoin itself. As long as they keep lining their own pockets, right?

The Vidovics' account had risen to $168,596 on April 28 when the hacking occurred, according to account statements the Vidovics shared with CNBC. That amount was essentially wiped out, with only a $587.15 balance shown the next day.

Since 2016, Coinbase users have filed more than 11,000 complaints against Coinbase with the Federal Trade Commission and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, mostly related to customer service.

Making your voice heard ahead of Thursday’s critical EU vote

By Paul Grewal, Chief Legal Officer


Bad facts make bad law. We see this in jurisdictions all over the world, especially when it comes to digital assets. Unfortunately, we are about to see this again — this time in the European Union — in the form of a revision to the Transfer of Funds Regulation. If adopted, this revision would unleash an entire surveillance regime on exchanges like Coinbase, stifle innovation, and undermine the self-hosted wallets that individuals use to securely protect their digital assets. The vote will likely take place this week so time is running out.

Here are the bad “facts”:

(1) digital assets like Bitcoin, Ethereum and others are a primary way criminals hide and move money

(2) law enforcement has no way to track these movements

(3) requiring collection and verification of personal information associated with self-hosted is not a violation of their privacy

State of play

The truth is that digital assets are in general a markedly inferior way for criminals to hide their illicit financial activity. That’s why, according to the best research available, by far the most popular way to hide illicit financial activity remains cash. Unlike with cash, law enforcement can track and trace digital asset transfers with advanced analytics tools. None of this requires upsetting the settled privacy expectations of wallet holders because the open architecture underlying digital assets is public and offers unprecedented transparency into transaction details. The records are also permanent — no one (not crypto companies, not governments, not even bad actors) can destroy or alter information. In short, digital assets and the immutable nature of their blockchain technology actually enhances the ability to detect and deter illicit activity. But rather than embracing and leveraging the benefits that arise from the increasing use of digital assets, the EU’s proposal would cast them aside and impose a host of new privacy invasions on wallet users.

For example, all crypto transactions will be deemed “travel rule eligible”. This means crypto is treated differently to fiat (which has a 1,000 EUR threshold), which establishes a clear advantage for traditional financial service providers over new technology, with significant anti-competition and anti-innovation implications.

Among the worst of the proposed provisions are new obligations on exchanges to collect, verify and report information on non-customers using self-hosted wallets. For instance, one provision requires exchanges to not only collect personal data about wallet users who are not their customers, but to also verify the data’s accuracy before allowing a transfer to one of their customers. In fiat terms, this would basically mean you cannot take money out of your bank account to send to someone else until you share personal data with your financial institution about that person and verify their identity. Not only is this verification requirement nearly impossible to do but requiring exchanges to engage in extensive data collection, verification, and retention about non-customers runs against core EU data protection principles of data minimization and proportionality.

Another dangerous provision would require exchanges to inform “competent authorities” of every single transfer from a non-customer’s self-hosted wallet equal to or greater than 1,000 EUR — regardless of any suspicion of bad activity. The proposal even leaves the door open to a total ban on transfers to self-hosted wallets even though there is no evidence that such a ban would have any impact on illicit activity at all. Like we said, bad facts make bad policy.

Make your voice heard

There’s precious time to act and we need to make our voices heard. A vote on Parliament’s draft proposal could come as early as Thursday, March 31st. If you care about protecting the privacy of individuals, and focusing the law on solutions that actually address legitimate concerns about the illicit use of digital assets, now is the time to speak up and be heard. We must speak with one, strong voice against this proposal before it’s too late.

~snip~

Making your voice heard ahead of Thursday’s critical EU vote

By Paul Grewal, Chief Legal Officer

(1) digital assets like Bitcoin, Ethereum and others are a primary way criminals hide and move money

(2) law enforcement has no way to track these movements

For example, all crypto transactions will be deemed “travel rule eligible”. This means crypto is treated differently to fiat (which has a 1,000 EUR threshold), which establishes a clear advantage for traditional financial service providers over new technology, with significant anti-competition and anti-innovation implications.

Among the worst of the proposed provisions are new obligations on exchanges to collect, verify and report information on non-customers using self-hosted wallets.

Coinbase’s Chief Legal Officer added:

If you care about protecting the privacy of individuals, and focusing the law on solutions that actually address legitimate concerns about the illicit use of digital assets, now is the time to speak up and be heard. We must speak with one, strong voice against this proposal before it’s too late.

Crypto exchange Coinbase's (COIN) analytics program, Coinbase Tracer, will provide the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) with data about crypto users, including “historical geo tracking data” and transaction history, according to a contract obtained by watchdog group Tech Inquiry.

   Personal Identification Information: Full name, date of birth, nationality, gender, signature, utility bills, photographs, phone number, home address, and/or email.

    Formal Identification Information: Government issued identity document such as Passport, Driver's License, National Identity Card, State ID Card, Tax ID number, passport number, driver's license details, national identity card details, visa information, and/or any other information deemed necessary to comply with our legal obligations under financial or anti-money laundering laws.

    Institutional Information: Employer Identification number (or comparable number issued by a government), proof of legal formation (e.g. Articles of Incorporation), personal identification information for all material beneficial owners.

    Financial Information: Bank account information, payment card primary account number (PAN), transaction history, trading data, and/or tax identification.

    Transaction Information: Information about the transactions you make on our Services, such as the name of the recipient, your name, the amount, and/or timestamp.

    Employment Information: Office location, job title, and/or description of role.

    Correspondence: Survey responses, information provided to our support team or user research team.

    Audio, electronic, visual and similar information, such as call and video recordings.

    ...

    Online Identifiers: Geo location/tracking details, browser fingerprint, operating system, browser name and version, and/or personal IP addresses.

    Usage Data: Authentication data, security questions, click-stream data, public social networking posts, and other data collected via cookies and similar technologies. Please read our Cookie Policy for more information.

Just in case you forgot how evil this institution is:

Coinbase Is Reportedly Selling Geolocation Data to ICE (https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/06/29/coinbase-is-reportedly-selling-geo-location-data-to-ice/)

I even laugh harder when I read their privacy policy. What a bunch of shameless twats they are. Anybody having a Coinbase app on their phones shouldn't think beyond deleting it

Amazing that people still buy this nonsense and trust Coinbase with a single satoshi.

The Irony  ;D

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

Amazing that people still buy this nonsense and trust Coinbase with a single satoshi.

Coinbase has been very much hated by the cryptospace community because of their behavior that has been considered anti-bitcoin, however, this initiative by Brian Armstrong should be supported and should also be given respect, I reckon.

--snip--

Read in full https://coincodecap.com/coinbase-funds-lawsuit-against-the-us-treasury

although there are few hypocrisy.

We believe law abiding citizens have a right to privacy, especially with some of their most sensitive data: their finances.

making it possible for anyone to use privacy tools to protect themselves.

The absolute majority of users doesnt give a sh*t about all of those things. They are just a heard of sheeps willing to become rich soon with cryptos. And coinbase is right there to make the best use of them: slaughter.

Difficult lessons have to be learnt.

I'd have far more respect if Coinbase just came out and said the truth - this will affect our profits - instead of dressing themselves up as some shining savior of privacy when they've done nothing but invade users' privacy since their inception.

engaging in shenanigans to mislead the public in the ways that they pumped Bcash

and what about that fucktwat's inability to say the word bitcoin.. that's pretty fucking annoying and even misleading to be unable to say the word "bitcoin".

they cannot eve n reconcile their own kinds of various involvement in shitcoins and cannot make up their minds regarding the criteria that they use to add them to the platform that gets them into another kind of dance in terms having difficulties to claim their innocence regarding likely blatant breaches of securities laws

I must have missed this. Who are you referring to here? Armstrong?

and I believe he is one of the persons who was involved in pushing the BIG blocker bullshit in 2016/2017/2018 who never really admitted that he was on the wrong side in that fight.

and we can even continue to maintain certain levels of skepticisms in regards to how much Coinbase's/Armstrong's support of funding Tornado cash related lawsuit talking-points is sufficiently free from some of Coinbase's/Armstrong's inclinations towards not being bitcoin-friendly.

I'm sure they are ecstatic about the upcoming Ethereum merge given they will immediately become one of the largest centralized validators given how much Ethereum has been deposited to Coinbase by their users, and will be able to throw their weight around to influence the future development of the project.

It sure seems that Coinbase and Armstrong have greatly overestimated their importance and in the process have shown who they really are- Coinchase, as if there was any doubt.  I can't see this ending well for the either company or shareholders.

Repeat it with me:

Not
Your
Keys
Not
Your
Coins.

Repeat it 1million times!

https://www.talkimg.com/images/2023/09/22/60ih1.png (https://x.com/arkhamintel/status/1705254948324233270?s=46&t=ybCp3ydjDJA_wR_uVxrEgA)


There is so much left to do out there as educators and orange pillers.
Those are not Coinbase's funds. Those are Coinbase customer's funds!

Repeat it with me:

Not
Your
Keys
Not
Your
Coins.

Repeat it 1million times!

https://www.talkimg.com/images/2023/09/22/60ih1.png (https://x.com/arkhamintel/status/1705254948324233270?s=46&t=ybCp3ydjDJA_wR_uVxrEgA)


There is so much left to do out there as educators and orange pillers.
Those are not Coinbase's funds. Those are Coinbase customer's funds!

Repeat it with me:

Not
Your
Keys
Not
Your
Coins.

Repeat it 1million times!

https://www.talkimg.com/images/2023/09/22/60ih1.png (https://x.com/arkhamintel/status/1705254948324233270?s=46&t=ybCp3ydjDJA_wR_uVxrEgA)


There is so much left to do out there as educators and orange pillers.
Those are not Coinbase's funds. Those are Coinbase customer's funds!

There is so much left to do out there as educators and orange pillers.

Repeat it with me:

Not
Your
Keys
Not
Your
Coins.

Repeat it 1million times!

https://www.talkimg.com/images/2023/09/22/60ih1.png (https://x.com/arkhamintel/status/1705254948324233270?s=46&t=ybCp3ydjDJA_wR_uVxrEgA)


There is so much left to do out there as educators and orange pillers.
Those are not Coinbase's funds. Those are Coinbase customer's funds!