Beware of CoinBase

[hZti]

Everybody can track Bitcoin transactions thats the whole point of it, if you don't want them to use a Bitcoin Mixer or a Dark/Privatecoin. Also there isn't really a point in using them if you want privacy because it is not very complicate to use an normal wallet and they offer a very good FREE service for every other person who is just a casual user.

[Icanseemychains]

CoinBase deserves credit for helping Bitcoin grow stronger in the "real-world".

That sure was some compelling, factual evidence you added with your opinion.  What exactly did they do? Become another financial regulation arm for the government? But I thought it wasn't a currency?

[ranlo]

So this is the price users have to pay for using their "regulated" exchange/wallet? Welcome to the "paypal" of bitcoin

CoinBase deserves credit for helping Bitcoin grow stronger in the "real-world". They have the right to decide how to deal with regulations and users have the right to use them or look for other options.

This. While regulation isn't something most of us like, the fact is that it's not something we're going to escape. Coinbase is doing what they need to survive long-term, rather than "punish" the government by ignoring them, only to crash and burn (along with prison time and complete loss of customer funds). I'd much rather be able to use them and know it's safe than to use them and wonder when the government's going to shut it down and take all my coins.

[btcton]

So this is the price users have to pay for using their "regulated" exchange/wallet? Welcome to the "paypal" of bitcoin

CoinBase deserves credit for helping Bitcoin grow stronger in the "real-world". They have the right to decide how to deal with regulations and users have the right to use them or look for other options.

This. While regulation isn't something most of us like, the fact is that it's not something we're going to escape. Coinbase is doing what they need to survive long-term, rather than "punish" the government by ignoring them, only to crash and burn (along with prison time and complete loss of customer funds). I'd much rather be able to use them and know it's safe than to use them and wonder when the government's going to shut it down and take all my coins.

Something that follows regulations is also more attractive to the outside world as it sounds "government-approved" and legit. This contrasts quite a bit with other sites like blockchain or btc-e which are an overload to the average consumer.

[QuestionAuthority]

I have a degree of 'trust' in Coinbase insofar as I don't think they will rip me off.  That mostly because I could at least make a credible stab at suing their asses off and they have deep-ish pockets complements of various angel investors and such.

Anyone who has been paying attention and who is modestly knowledgeable about things should have no surprises that they have their entire heads completely within the sphincter of the Feds.  It is entirely expected and I don't hold it against them at all.  In some ways it is actually why I chose to use them.

I predicted many times that the business model Coinbase is going for is to spy on schools of minnows and sell out to a bank or tech giant at the most opportune time.  Larger early-ish adopter types are a distinct liability for this reasons.  I've not done a transaction through them for a year, but even back then they were getting antsy.  And I'm hardly a big fish compared to genuine early adopters I don't imagine.  When they interrogated me I offered that they should have the technical prowess to validate that my BTC came from Tradehill.  That seemed to have gotten them off my back but I expect I'll be shut down if/when I do any more activity of any consequence.  I think I remember Greg Maxwell himself mentioning that they shut him down.  Amazing.  Probably one would have to be a big investor in their company to do any volume through them at this point.

If you're going to go through the same miserable process you deal with using fiat then explain to me why I should use Bitcoin? People should reward exchanges and businesses like BTCe that provide good service and are beholding to no one and shun businesses that act like a branch of the government like Coinbase. Perhaps Bitcoin shouldn't be used by people in the American nanny state. Maybe a new coin for them called Americoin. They can build it with blacklisting, tracking, Americoin gps locator apps from a certified App Store, direct reporting of your daily expenditures to the IRS, coins that vaporize if you use them at an unapproved business, etc.

[ranlo]

I have a degree of 'trust' in Coinbase insofar as I don't think they will rip me off.  That mostly because I could at least make a credible stab at suing their asses off and they have deep-ish pockets complements of various angel investors and such.

Anyone who has been paying attention and who is modestly knowledgeable about things should have no surprises that they have their entire heads completely within the sphincter of the Feds.  It is entirely expected and I don't hold it against them at all.  In some ways it is actually why I chose to use them.

I predicted many times that the business model Coinbase is going for is to spy on schools of minnows and sell out to a bank or tech giant at the most opportune time.  Larger early-ish adopter types are a distinct liability for this reasons.  I've not done a transaction through them for a year, but even back then they were getting antsy.  And I'm hardly a big fish compared to genuine early adopters I don't imagine.  When they interrogated me I offered that they should have the technical prowess to validate that my BTC came from Tradehill.  That seemed to have gotten them off my back but I expect I'll be shut down if/when I do any more activity of any consequence.  I think I remember Greg Maxwell himself mentioning that they shut him down.  Amazing.  Probably one would have to be a big investor in their company to do any volume through them at this point.

If you're going to go through the same miserable process you deal with using fiat then explain to me why I should use Bitcoin? People should reward exchanges and businesses like BTCe that provide good service and are beholding to no one and shun businesses that act like a branch of the government like Coinbase. Perhaps Bitcoin shouldn't be used by people in the American nanny state. Maybe a new coin for them called Americoin. They can build it with blacklisting, tracking, Americoin gps locator apps from a certified App Store, direct reporting of your daily expenditures to the IRS, coins that vaporize if you use them at an unapproved business, etc.

Why use Bitcoin instead? Instant, irreversible transfers. The anonymity has nothing to do with it for me. It's the ability to pay people without losing huge chunks due to fees. Send $10 in PayPal? That's like $1 in fees. Same in Bitcoin? Two cents. Sending $100 in PayPal? That's $5.30 or so in fees. Bitcoin? Still two cents.

Someone pays me in PayPal? They get pissed off down the road and do a chargeback. Someone pays me in Bitcoin? It's mine.

[QuestionAuthority]

I have a degree of 'trust' in Coinbase insofar as I don't think they will rip me off.  That mostly because I could at least make a credible stab at suing their asses off and they have deep-ish pockets complements of various angel investors and such.

Anyone who has been paying attention and who is modestly knowledgeable about things should have no surprises that they have their entire heads completely within the sphincter of the Feds.  It is entirely expected and I don't hold it against them at all.  In some ways it is actually why I chose to use them.

I predicted many times that the business model Coinbase is going for is to spy on schools of minnows and sell out to a bank or tech giant at the most opportune time.  Larger early-ish adopter types are a distinct liability for this reasons.  I've not done a transaction through them for a year, but even back then they were getting antsy.  And I'm hardly a big fish compared to genuine early adopters I don't imagine.  When they interrogated me I offered that they should have the technical prowess to validate that my BTC came from Tradehill.  That seemed to have gotten them off my back but I expect I'll be shut down if/when I do any more activity of any consequence.  I think I remember Greg Maxwell himself mentioning that they shut him down.  Amazing.  Probably one would have to be a big investor in their company to do any volume through them at this point.

If you're going to go through the same miserable process you deal with using fiat then explain to me why I should use Bitcoin? People should reward exchanges and businesses like BTCe that provide good service and are beholding to no one and shun businesses that act like a branch of the government like Coinbase. Perhaps Bitcoin shouldn't be used by people in the American nanny state. Maybe a new coin for them called Americoin. They can build it with blacklisting, tracking, Americoin gps locator apps from a certified App Store, direct reporting of your daily expenditures to the IRS, coins that vaporize if you use them at an unapproved business, etc.

Why use Bitcoin instead? Instant, irreversible transfers. The anonymity has nothing to do with it for me. It's the ability to pay people without losing huge chunks due to fees. Send $10 in PayPal? That's like $1 in fees. Same in Bitcoin? Two cents. Sending $100 in PayPal? That's $5.30 or so in fees. Bitcoin? Still two cents.

Someone pays me in PayPal? They get pissed off down the road and do a chargeback. Someone pays me in Bitcoin? It's mine.

You should try Amazon Payments then. It's totally free to send money and easier to use than Bitcoin. I've always wondered why so many people use PayPal when there's free services available. Maybe it's for convenience or the fraud protection or something.

If you have a family member or friend that you send money to or get money from regularly then both of you open accounts at the same bank. I send my daughter money all the time by transferring it from my account to hers and she lives across the country and the transfer is totally free.

Bitcoin is all about the non-traceable transfer of value between individuals. Everything else can be done another way.

[RaginglikeaBoss]

CoinBase is legit by most U.S. members, including myself.  It's the pre-Summer pump on schedule as usual.

it is legitimate, but the issue here is that coinbase is tracking how users spend their funds, which completely contradicts the relatively anonymous part of using bitcoin.

I guessed I misread the OP...  If you think bitcoin is even "pseudoninonimous," then you found the only thinking retard I've managed to spot.

[Johny Depp]

More in the saga...

Come on. We are not investigating transactions really far away from the source. You sent bitcoin directly to an address known to be selling fake IDs.

^^Quote by http://www.reddit.com/user/CoinbaseAdrian

http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/39xhjq/coinbaseadrian_you_sent_bitcoin_directly_to_an/

[MF Doom]

So this is the price users have to pay for using their "regulated" exchange/wallet? Welcome to the "paypal" of bitcoin

Sadly, it may be their only option.  When they get millions upon millions in investor capital, they will be forced to become just like the other payment companies

[runpaint]

Coinbase is the easiest option I found for buying bitcoins with U.S. dollars.  I didn't want to give Cryptsy a video of myself holding my photo I.D. next to my face, so I jumped through Coinbase's different set of hoops.  Once it's all finally set up, it's easy and fast to buy bitcoins with Coinbase.

[MF Doom]

Coinbase is the easiest option I found for buying bitcoins with U.S. dollars.  I didn't want to give Cryptsy a video of myself holding my photo I.D. next to my face, so I jumped through Coinbase's different set of hoops.  Once it's all finally set up, it's easy and fast to buy bitcoins with Coinbase.

Yes, it is currently, but I think most people are worried about becoming TOO big.  Kind of like PayPal is now, with their mountainous "terms & conditions" that override common sense whenever there is a payment dispute...and their ever growing fees

I do think coinbase has the best shot of bringing btc to mainstream use though

[SpanishSoldier]

Coinbase is the easiest option I found for buying bitcoins with U.S. dollars.  I didn't want to give Cryptsy a video of myself holding my photo I.D. next to my face, so I jumped through Coinbase's different set of hoops.  Once it's all finally set up, it's easy and fast to buy bitcoins with Coinbase.

Is it even better than Circle ? AFAIK Circle is allowing credit cards for US customers to buy bitcoin.

[Za1n]

I just recently signed up with Coinbase and have had no issues so far. I have only made purchases and have not tried withdrawing, so can't comment on that side yet.

My only gripe is the bank transfer delay to get funds in (I assume delay in getting them out as well) and the fact you need to buy at the current price. It would be nice to be able to place orders on where you wanted to buy in at.

[tvbcof]

If you're going to go through the same miserable process you deal with using fiat then explain to me why I should use Bitcoin? ...

Speaking for myself, multiplying my initial outlay by 100 times had something to do with it

[ranlo]

If you're going to go through the same miserable process you deal with using fiat then explain to me why I should use Bitcoin? ...

Speaking for myself, multiplying my initial outlay by 100 times had something to do with it

Mine's nothing to do with the verification process -- it's how the funds are sent. To me, it's like using PayPal over ACH -- both require verification of some sort, but PayPal is just faster and easier. Bitcoin is the same way: once verified, paying and receiving payments is a snap, and it's extremely secure.

[odolvlobo]

I just recently signed up with Coinbase and have had no issues so far. I have only made purchases and have not tried withdrawing, so can't comment on that side yet.

My only gripe is the bank transfer delay to get funds in (I assume delay in getting them out as well) and the fact you need to buy at the current price. It would be nice to be able to place orders on where you wanted to buy in at.

The reason for the delay is the U.S. banking system and not Coinbase. Coinbase cannot give you the bitcoins until it knows that it will receive your money. The U.S. banking system takes days to transfer money

If you want to buy or sell bitcoins at a price other than the current price, you can use the Coinbase exchange and place a limit order. https://exchange.coinbase.com/

[QuestionAuthority]

If you're going to go through the same miserable process you deal with using fiat then explain to me why I should use Bitcoin? ...

Speaking for myself, multiplying my initial outlay by 100 times had something to do with it

I made quite a bit of coin but I burned up quite a few hd5970s and motherboards in the process. At $7-800 a pop, I need that $1,000 price back to really be happy and then it wouldn't be near to 100x (10x maybe). That's good for us but what about the poor schmucks that are just getting into it now?

[fatguyyyyy]

coinbase is a total scam .. localbitcoins is legit!

[josephno1]

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