Beware of CoinBase

[fatguyyyyy]

its a digusting service .. i have had nothing but bad experiences with coinbase. what happens if their site gets hacked? then identity theives get your personal info! No thanks!

[dKingston]

quite possibly the worst exchange ever

[blablaace]

they doxxed me, i bought coins, then they refused to release the 2 btc until I sent more docs ... and they never did release them, just stole them

[solitude]

Coinbase sucks, complete government cucks.  They will happily sell you out to get a pat on the back from daddy government.

Their facebook'esqe logo alone is enough to make me question their integrity.

[lottery248]

i agree.
they are watching us. that's horrible.
unless they are under government regulation, otherwise we shouldn't really trust.

[PenguinFire]

coinbase is a total scam .. localbitcoins is legit!

Why is that?

I use Coinbase and my main concern is Coinbase being in bed with the US government.  I am a US citizen.  I am worried about them reporting to the IRS one day down the line.  Based on my understanding they couldn't get me from anything because it wasn't considered anything to be taxed at the time but I know very little about the legal side of what I am doing. 

[Amph]

At least coinbase made it clear that they track you. In addition they also dox you before you use their service (by encouraging users to scan their passports). I mean if you don't want to use coinbase, there are hundreds of alternatives out there that are way more anonymous

apparently many like to be tracked because they are still using it, they feel more secure when they lose their privacy...

i would not trust a centralized exchange like that which is under an heavy light of the government, it should be hard for them to track me at the very least

there are some decentralized exchange out there, why no one is using them instead? bitshares is one of them

[fatguyyyyy]

coinbase is a total scam .. localbitcoins is legit!

Why is that?

I use Coinbase and my main concern is Coinbase being in bed with the US government.  I am a US citizen.  I am worried about them reporting to the IRS one day down the line.  Based on my understanding they couldn't get me from anything because it wasn't considered anything to be taxed at the time but I know very little about the legal side of what I am doing. 

they are ALREADY reporting to irs

[tvbcof]

At least coinbase made it clear that they track you. In addition they also dox you before you use their service (by encouraging users to scan their passports). I mean if you don't want to use coinbase, there are hundreds of alternatives out there that are way more anonymous

apparently many like to be tracked because they are still using it, they feel more secure when they lose their privacy...

i would not trust a centralized exchange like that which is under an heavy light of the government, it should be hard for them to track me at the very least

there are some decentralized exchange out there, why no one is using them instead? bitshares is one of them

I 'like to be tracked' which is a big part of the reason I used and will continue to use Coinbase as long as they let me.

I decided from early on to be diligent in paying my taxes.  This was relatively easy for me as I have no core philosophical objection to taxes in principle.  I also deliberately made sure some of my transactions exceeded the reporting thresholds so I could not be accused of 'structuring.'  That's not to say that I like shelling out funds to kill people half way around the world with drones and fund vast amounts of corruption closer to home.  I don't.  But I'm not going to ignore reality and thus piss away a good thing (my bet on Bitcoin.)

Very rich people have nothing to fear as our political system protects them and has created a feathered nest for them.  Mere 'middle class' actors (e.g., simple millionaires) will have a very difficult time being anonymous.  The wise move for most is to pay the man else you will be squished like a bug...and may end up that way anyway.  In the mean time work toward a more transparent system where TPTB have fewer rocks to hide under and expect that if successful, some of the unfairness and corruption gets better.

I have strongly advised those who had a windfall in Bitcoin to suck it up and create as small a 'attack surface' as possible.  Those who did not heed my advice would do well to set aside the proceeds needed to pay up if the hammer falls.  I'll bet that one of the big reasons that Bitcoin has been practically carried along by a compliant govt (here in the U.S.) and compliant media is that it is a fantastic honeypot to snare tax cheats.

Again, Coinbase will do exactly what they are doing or they simply will not exist.  I knew that was the case from when I first researched them.  It is simply not their fault but rather the society that we citizens, more than any other party, are to blame for.

[wadili89]

its a digusting service .. i have had nothing but bad experiences with coinbase. what happens if their site gets hacked? then identity theives get your personal info! No thanks!

i just agree with you on this because i like the anonymous fact of bitcoins and when you talk about coinbase there is no anonymousty in this anymore that is why i do not use coinbase anymore i like blockchain for online wallet which is best and need no name or documents just like it should be last time i use coinbase was a year ago

[chopstick]

coinbase is a total scam .. localbitcoins is legit!

Why is that?

I use Coinbase and my main concern is Coinbase being in bed with the US government.  I am a US citizen.  I am worried about them reporting to the IRS one day down the line.  Based on my understanding they couldn't get me from anything because it wasn't considered anything to be taxed at the time but I know very little about the legal side of what I am doing. 

they are ALREADY reporting to irs

this. After Bitcoin hits 10K+ everyone who bought in thru coinbase is gonna get audited.

[RodeoX]

Just what did you guys expect? You thought that all that venture capitol was to create a business to help you evade the law? If you want an anonymous exchange then YOU will need to start writing your elected officials. No one is going to jail for you because you want more money.   

[Herbert2020]

 Do you trust CoinBase.com ?

well that is an easy big NO
i never have and never will trust an online wallet, especially a wallet that i don't have control over my bitcoin which is no access to my private keys.
additionally they have a lot of ridiculous rules which allows them to easily disable and block your funds.
this is not the way bitcoin is meant to be used.

[RocketSingh]

Do you trust CoinBase.com ?

well that is an easy big NO
i never have and never will trust an online wallet, especially a wallet that i don't have control over my bitcoin which is no access to my private keys.
additionally they have a lot of ridiculous rules which allows them to easily disable and block your funds.
this is not the way bitcoin is meant to be used.

Is there really any case where CoinBase has locked the fund ? AFAIK, they deny to transact in some cases. But, never heard that they denied refund or locked the fund.

[faridkifly]

I think coinbase is untrusted because they are under goverment regulation.. I think offline wallet is better

[Mickeyb]

I think coinbase is untrusted because they are under goverment regulation.. I think offline wallet is better

I would never in my life trust coinbase. They would be actually the last place where I would buy my bitcoins at. Over and over again, they have shown and proved with their actions that they care more about governments and centralization instead of the Bitcoin community.
They are centralizing Bitcoin if you ask me.

[GermanGiant]

I think coinbase is untrusted because they are under goverment regulation.. I think offline wallet is better

Coinbase is much more than a mere wallet service. They were a bitcoin shop from beginning and now they are a real time exchange too.

[BayAreaCoins]

Just what did you guys expect? You thought that all that venture capitol was to create a business to help you evade the law? If you want an anonymous exchange then YOU will need to start writing your elected officials. No one is going to jail for you because you want more money.  

Hardly this. ^

I didn't expect for a "transparent" company to use a NYSE tweet about transparency and news they received VC money in order to run a pump and dump on a Sunday night based on news that was a lie.

I didn't expect for my account to be shut off for no reason and for the company to be so invasive.

I didn't expect for a "transparent" Bitcoinless company to hide their office location and have it guarded by ninjas.

Someone should make a Bitbet on if the Coinbase people will be arrested or killed first.  

[newIndia]

I didn't expect for my account to be shut off for no reason and for the company to be so invasive.

Why was your account shut off ?

[commandrix]

Do not store your Bitcoin in any third-party service for very long, is all I have to say about it.