Something I noticed when sending USD from Coinbase to my bank account

[AB de Royse777]

~snip~

Lol, do you know how much users Google's services still have? Their entire business strategy is based on selling people's data and nobody cares.
You'd be wrong to assume that crypto users care more. Everyone is more than willing to send personal information (including IDs) for KYC etc.

Only a very small minority of people actually care about their privacy.

Everything has its cost. We see all those multi million dollar company are letting us to use their service for free but without any catch? We are their product. Without us there will be no Facebook, no Google, no Yahoo. But the only way for them to hang us with them is to provide us the service. And they are doing the exact thing that they were suppose to.

Problem is - we are so dependent with those service that knowing our privacy is being compromise, we are still using their service.
For example: To make this post I am using Google chrome firefox (Not using google chrome though). I am logged in with my gmail account which means google is tracking all my moves. Constantly they are storing my information in their database so they know me very well. I know all these things but why I still let them to do that? Because of the comfortless of using their system. They are customizing their serving for me which makes my life easier.

I see an ad on the Tele where one guy is saying why don't I see that you see in my phone. The other guy proudly saying because google knows what I want. I am in the same situation but not proud because I know I have no option but use their service knowing that my privacy is in stake however we try our best.

[talip_ozturk]

In the US, we have limited options to buy/sell cryptocurrency by linking our bank accounts:

• 1. https://coinbase.com and https://gemini.com. They have the custody of your coins.
• 2. https://abra.com. semi-custodial. They have synthetic coins.
• 3. https://evercoin.com. non-custodial. Your keys, your coins. You can link your bank account. Currently cheaper than all other options but only available in 9 US states: "CA", "MA", "NV", "MI", "MO", "MT", "NE", "UT", "WY"

Regardless of your choice, bank transactions (ACH) take time. Actual transfer happens at midnight every business day and the settlement takes a few days. So USD withdrawal from any of these options will take at least one business day. Deposits can take up to 6 days because the company will have to wait for the bank transaction settlement and banks don't work during the weekend. If you do your transaction before 5pm you will save yourself a day.The worst time is Thursday after 5pm and Friday because the bank transaction will wait through the weekend.

And that is one of the many reasons why we have to make sure bitcoin (cryptocurrency) wins and we won't need banks. It is insane.

[glennmatthew]

Anyway, I still wonder that Coinbase has customers even after they admitted that they sold their customer data. The crypto was meant to protect ones privacy.

Lol, do you know how much users Google's services still have? Their entire business strategy is based on selling people's data and nobody cares.
You'd be wrong to assume that crypto users care more. Everyone is more than willing to send personal information (including IDs) for KYC etc.

Only a very small minority of people actually care about their privacy.

I get it, people worry about their privacy and all, but it is all quite silly really. You just get adverts which are more relevant to you, and quite franky I don't think that's a bad thing unless you are a terrible impulse buyer

If you think about it, your data is just 1's and 0's in a database which no human will ever look at, any processing of your data is automatic and handled my complicated algorithms. As long as it is not used for malicious purposes, or sold to your friends - who cares?

Don't get me wrong I am not saying you should be sending pictures of your ID, name and address without second thoughts, because there are many bad things that can happen if such data goes in the wrong hands.

[Lauren Smith]

Why are you even using them? Can you not use anyone else?
Can you not use localbitcoin?

Today I sent a small amount of USD from my Coinbase account, to my bank account. It says I will not receive those funds for 3 full days. Any other bank in the world would make that transaction almost immediately. Why does Coinbase take their sweet time? That is cruddy. Coinbase treats fiat like it is crypto. I am glad I do not have funds in Coinbase anymore, well, in a few days I won't.

It's their procedure. Like it or not, you have to accept it.

Anyway, I still wonder that Coinbase has customers even after they admitted that they sold their customer data. The crypto was meant to protect ones privacy.

One more reason to never give away KYC. Not even an exchange can protect you.

"The crypto was meant to protect ones privacy" Exactly the point. 

Anyway, I still wonder that Coinbase has customers even after they admitted that they sold their customer data. The crypto was meant to protect ones privacy.

Lol, do you know how much users Google's services still have? Their entire business strategy is based on selling people's data and nobody cares.
You'd be wrong to assume that crypto users care more. Everyone is more than willing to send personal information (including IDs) for KYC etc.

Only a very small minority of people actually care about their privacy.

That is not really true. Google collects info to help us shop, it works well. KYC is to scam you. Giving KYC is really a bad idea.

[adzino]

Today I sent a small amount of USD from my Coinbase account, to my bank account. It says I will not receive those funds for 3 full days. Any other bank in the world would make that transaction almost immediately. Why does Coinbase take their sweet time? That is cruddy. Coinbase treats fiat like it is crypto. I am glad I do not have funds in Coinbase anymore, well, in a few days I won't.

I don't see anything "abnormal" over here. You are converting your bitcoin to fiat currency and then transferring it to a bank. Well, bank transfer never had a reputation for being instant. And there are lots of security check coinbase has to go through before making your transaction. Again, doesn't bank transfer normally take around 3 business day to process any money transfer?

[o_e_l_e_o]

I am in the same situation but not proud because I know I have no option but use their service knowing that my privacy is in stake however we try our best.

You do have options though. Use Linux instead of Windows. Use Firefox instead of Chrome. Use DuckDuckGo instead of Google search. Use ProtonMail instead of GoogleMail. For every service you use which invades your privacy, there is an alternative which doesn't. Here are a couple of great resources for finding said alternatives:

https://prism-break.org/en/
https://www.reddit.com/r/privacy/wiki/de-google

I get it, people worry about their privacy and all, but it is all quite silly really. You just get adverts which are more relevant to you, and quite franky I don't think that's a bad thing unless you are a terrible impulse buyer

It's far worse than just targeted advertising. It's a surveillance state. Snowden's revelations showed the NSA is collecting all your data. Do you trust the government not to do anything shady with your data? Do you trust all future governments? Cambridge Analytica used your data to illegally influence elections. Some countries use data to punish dissidents or anyone who speaks out against the government.

The old cliché is often mocked though basically true: there’s no reason to worry about surveillance if you have nothing to hide. That mindset creates the incentive to be as compliant and inconspicuous as possible: those who think that way decide it’s in their best interests to provide authorities with as little reason as possible to care about them. That’s accomplished by never stepping out of line. Those willing to live their lives that way will be indifferent to the loss of privacy because they feel that they lose nothing from it. Above all else, that’s what a Surveillance State does: it breeds fear of doing anything out of the ordinary by creating a class of meek citizens who know they are being constantly watched.

[Kakmakr]

Today I sent a small amount of USD from my Coinbase account, to my bank account. It says I will not receive those funds for 3 full days. Any other bank in the world would make that transaction almost immediately. Why does Coinbase take their sweet time? That is cruddy. Coinbase treats fiat like it is crypto. I am glad I do not have funds in Coinbase anymore, well, in a few days I won't.

It is standard practice in the Banking sector for inter Bank transfers of Fiat to take up to 48 hours. The Banks combine transactions and reconcile the balance sheet between Banks every other day and it is done via services like for example the "Clearing House Interbank Payments System (CHIPS)" in the USA.

It will not be cost effective for them to use these services for every individual transactions, so they combine all the transactions together and then balance the transactions that are combined by other Banks with their Bank and settle the difference. <This is why direct Bitcoin use is much more effective than the Banking system, but when you use services like Coinbase to covert & transfer Fiat, these limitations are once again applied to you.>  

<< Blame the Banks systems, not Bitcoin>> 

[slaman29]

You sure about that any bank in the world would make transactions immediate? Most banks I know when sending across border takes 2 working days if not 3 or more. Send it on a long weekend plus holiday and you can end up waiting a whole week.

And you're saying treating fiat like crypto I don't get that. Crypto is as fast as you want it to be.

[valentin68]

Every transaction between classic banks in this world takes 3 days. In the USA  a human does these transactions and they take 3 days, in Europe they are automated (a PC does them).

In day 1 , the transaction is initiated (is started), in day 2 the money are transferred between the banks, in day 3 the receiving bank deposits the money into the receiving account.

 There is a possibility for these transactions to take 2 days (in USA and in Europe). The money is transferred the day the transaction is initiated, in day 2 the money are deposited into the receiving account.

[Janation]

Coinbase treats fiat like it is crypto.

You know, banks don't accept Bitcoin right?

What I am saying here is that they are sending fiat in your bank account. The cryptocurrency you sent is being sent not as crypto but a fiat then obviously, it will be fiat and they will deal with it the same as the fiat in the world though in our country, when I am sending my crypto to my bank account it only takes half a day depends on the time that you send it.

[glennmatthew]

I am in the same situation but not proud because I know I have no option but use their service knowing that my privacy is in stake however we try our best.

You do have options though. Use Linux instead of Windows. Use Firefox instead of Chrome. Use DuckDuckGo instead of Google search. Use ProtonMail instead of GoogleMail. For every service you use which invades your privacy, there is an alternative which doesn't. Here are a couple of great resources for finding said alternatives:

https://prism-break.org/en/
https://www.reddit.com/r/privacy/wiki/de-google

I get it, people worry about their privacy and all, but it is all quite silly really. You just get adverts which are more relevant to you, and quite franky I don't think that's a bad thing unless you are a terrible impulse buyer

It's far worse than just targeted advertising. It's a surveillance state. Snowden's revelations showed the NSA is collecting all your data. Do you trust the government not to do anything shady with your data? Do you trust all future governments? Cambridge Analytica used your data to illegally influence elections. Some countries use data to punish dissidents or anyone who speaks out against the government.

The old cliché is often mocked though basically true: there’s no reason to worry about surveillance if you have nothing to hide. That mindset creates the incentive to be as compliant and inconspicuous as possible: those who think that way decide it’s in their best interests to provide authorities with as little reason as possible to care about them. That’s accomplished by never stepping out of line. Those willing to live their lives that way will be indifferent to the loss of privacy because they feel that they lose nothing from it. Above all else, that’s what a Surveillance State does: it breeds fear of doing anything out of the ordinary by creating a class of meek citizens who know they are being constantly watched.

You make a very valid point, but there are also positives to this...

Because the NSA keeps tabs on the entire world, they are able to find the source of terrorism. They share this information with the 'five eyes' and in a way keep much of the world safe.

Because companies know so much about us, they know what kind of technology we use, what kind of technology we will buy. This is not only good for the economy, but also technological advancement of the whole world.

Because companies sell our data, we are able to use their services for free. How would you feel if you needed to pay a subscription for google maps, facebook, twitter, email, or pretty much any free service that you use? If companies were not able to make money on our data, then the services that they offer would never be as developed and userfriendly as they are now, because they would have a smaller userbase due to the subscription model.

There is good and bad to the invasion of privacy. Where to draw the line?

All of that being said, I agree with you and I am also one of the few who are concerned with privacy. I am just trying to argue the opposing side.  I use proton mail myself, and I will definitely check out the links you posted!

[AB de Royse777]

You do have options though. Use Linux instead of Windows. Use Firefox instead of Chrome. Use DuckDuckGo instead of Google search. Use ProtonMail instead of GoogleMail. For every service you use which invades your privacy, there is an alternative which doesn't.

This is where user friendly features comes in count also knowledge is vital.


Use Linux instead of Windows.
- I never used Linux and I do not think I will ever consider it too.

Use Firefox instead of Chrome.
- I feel Chrome service is better and using it however changing it to firefox is that that hard.

Use DuckDuckGo instead of Google search
- Not user friendly. Google is bringing exactly that I want but in DuckDuckGo every time I am going from the start.

Use ProtonMail instead of GoogleMail
- Never tried ProtonMail. Guess I will give it a try.

Problem is that - the alternatives are not very much up to date with the comfort lever the regular services offer. It's like your phone company. In your circle if everyone is using service A then you are using the same because service A is giving some specific offers which you can not find with other service to communicate with your friends.

[rodel caling]

Today I sent a small amount of USD from my Coinbase account, to my bank account. It says I will not receive those funds for 3 full days. Any other bank in the world would make that transaction almost immediately. Why does Coinbase take their sweet time? That is cruddy. Coinbase treats fiat like it is crypto. I am glad I do not have funds in Coinbase anymore, well, in a few days I won't.

I visited a country where a wire transfer among different local banks can take up to TWO weeks, so no...

In my country, it would normally take about one to two working days, but we can't do any international transfers.

Bitcoin? A mere hour at most, border-less, tax-less.

Fiat and banks we don't need, they get in the way.

Right I think depends on the volume of transactions how long the confirmation of the money funds transfer.
Herein my country I use local wallet to transafer my fund into bank process time 24 hours before the transaction completed to cofirm.

[malevolent]

It's probably for fraud and AML checks. Once the bank transfer settles -- especially wires -- they can't claw the money back. If your account doesn't get flagged for suspicious activity in those few days, then they release the funds.

It's annoying but I've never faced any issues. They've always been upfront about the delay.

Yeah, but in OP's case he's withdrawing from Coinbase to his bank account. If it was the other way around that would have been understandable, but in his case it doesn't make sense unless it's the fault of USA's antiquated banking systems taking their time to process bank transfers.

[o_e_l_e_o]

Because the NSA keeps tabs on the entire world, they are able to find the source of terrorism. They share this information with the 'five eyes' and in a way keep much of the world safe.

That's the justification they use for mass surveillance, but it just isn't true. Terrorists aren't communicating via Facebook or GoogleMail. They are using encrypted lines of communication.

Because companies know so much about us, they know what kind of technology we use, what kind of technology we will buy. This is not only good for the economy, but also technological advancement of the whole world.

This can be known from sale figures, it doesn't require mass surveillance.

Because companies sell our data, we are able to use their services for free. How would you feel if you needed to pay a subscription for google maps, facebook, twitter, email, or pretty much any free service that you use?

I don't use Facebook, Twitter, or any other social media. I use encrypted email providers which are free. I don't use Google Maps, but use a free alternative which doesn't track me. There are free and privacy conscious alternatives for pretty much everything. Even Tor is free to use.

There is good and bad to the invasion of privacy. Where to draw the line?

There is no good invasion of privacy.

[astadbtc]

Today I sent a small amount of USD from my Coinbase account, to my bank account. It says I will not receive those funds for 3 full days. Any other bank in the world would make that transaction almost immediately. Why does Coinbase take their sweet time? That is cruddy. Coinbase treats fiat like it is crypto. I am glad I do not have funds in Coinbase anymore, well, in a few days I won't.

Where have you seen wire transfers processing instantly? It takes 3 days minimum. This is the traditional banking we are speaking about. Who the hell told you it is instant???
Even the money you sent from your card to buy on Amazon they are not delivered instantly. Amazon sees them on their account on the next working day! So if you buy something at Friday Amazon will have the money available only on Monday.
What is actually instant is only transfers between accounts of the same bank.

[o_e_l_e_o]

Where have you seen wire transfers processing instantly? It takes 3 days minimum. This is the traditional banking we are speaking about. Who the hell told you it is instant???

There are some countries with systems in place to allow instant transfers. The Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) are in the process of setting up a European wide payment processor called SEPA Instant Credit Transfer (https://www.europeanpaymentscouncil.eu/what-we-do/sepa-instant-credit-transfer) which should allow instant transfers between accounts at any time of day or night. Whether or not exchanges will start using this is another matter, but it is certainly possible.

Fiat banking systems are generally pretty slow and archaic, but the US banking system is very poor even by those standards. Perhaps the growth of bitcoin might force them to actually modernize a little.

[malevolent]

Where have you seen wire transfers processing instantly? It takes 3 days minimum. This is the traditional banking we are speaking about. Who the hell told you it is instant???

There are some countries with systems in place to allow instant transfers. The Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) are in the process of setting up a European wide payment processor called SEPA Instant Credit Transfer (https://www.europeanpaymentscouncil.eu/what-we-do/sepa-instant-credit-transfer) which should allow instant transfers between accounts at any time of day or night. Whether or not exchanges will start using this is another matter, but it is certainly possible.

Most SEPA transfers reach no later than the next business day these days, and depending on the bank/country transfers under 15k EUR are near-instant as in your link. It only applies to EU/EEA/EFTA+microstates, though, other European countries such Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, the Caucasus, and a handful of Balkan countries aren't covered (...yet).

[Pipdips]

Well it has been 4 days now and my Coinbase transfer was probably sent to my bank account. I say probably because I do not know for sure unless I log into my bank account. Why? Because Coinbase did not send a confirmation email that confirms whether or not my money was sent. I guess it is up to me to log in and see what's there?

By the way, after a 3 days wait, I would totally expect Coinbase to send me a confirmation email stating that my funds we successfully sent. I guess they just like to leave that little bit of mystery for their clients. Little surprises!

[odolvlobo]

Well it has been 4 days now and my Coinbase transfer was probably sent to my bank account. I say probably because I do not know for sure unless I log into my bank account. Why? Because Coinbase did not send a confirmation email that confirms whether or not my money was sent. I guess it is up to me to log in and see what's there?

By the way, after a 3 days wait, I would totally expect Coinbase to send me a confirmation email stating that my funds we successfully sent. I guess they just like to leave that little bit of mystery for their clients. Little surprises!

For some reason, you seem to want Coinbase to be the bad guy here. They aren't. Coinbase has no way to know when your bank will credit the money to your account. I'm sure that they dislike the delays as much as you do.