Coinbase the most anti-Bitcoin organisation. Make #DeleteCoinbase great again

[fillippone]

Apparently a good news, but another demonstration on how Coinbase is acting toward their clients.

Coinbase Exchange Explain How They Saved Their Users From The Infamous Twitter Hack

• It was well reported that a hack occurred on Twitter which led to  $120,000 worth of bitcoin being stolen in a giveaway scam using many celebrity accounts.
• Coinbase revealed that it prevented more than 1000 of its users sending a total of 30 bitcoins to these hackers' addresses.

I posted my tought in another thread discussing the specific event:

<...>

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.
<...>

No matter how legit were the proposed action: this was a centralised censorship of the result of a delibeerate action of a user.
This is the smoking gun evidence those bitcoins aren't yours: they belong to Coinbase, which can use them as they prefer.

[1715050606]

1715050606

[Alucard1]

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

• 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:

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

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.”

A Treatise On Bitcoin And Privacy Part 2: Don’t Be Misled By 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.

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

There is a lot of organizations that is against on crypto currency and they are saying that crypto currency will only make the world financial system more complicated and will make those peoples that is innocent on using different modern devices a late adaptor. Even the different governments are against crypto currency since it is not paying high enough taxes so the mass adaptation will be having a hard time to occur so we need to support crypto currency all we can.

[Shame_Game]

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

[fillippone]

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

For sure it is profitable, it has to be.
I will tell you more: as Coinbase is the revenue scheme used to “cover” the real business, I.e. the use of user data to sell chain analysis services, Coinbase will be really keen on showing big profitability on that particular sector of activity.

This is true, not even considering the trade off between short term and long term profitability.

[kemoglo]

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

Quick Take

• Coinbase is providing its blockchain analytics software to the U.S. Secret Service
• The law enforcement agency awarded the contract to Coinbase in May and it ends in 2024
• Last month, The Block broke the story that Coinbase wants to sell its analytics software to two government  agencies — the DEA and the IRS

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

[fillippone]

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

Quick Take

• Coinbase is providing its blockchain analytics software to the U.S. Secret Service
• The law enforcement agency awarded the contract to Coinbase in May and it ends in 2024
• Last month, The Block broke the story that Coinbase wants to sell its analytics software to two government  agencies — the DEA and the IRS

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

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.

[fillippone]

<...>
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

Proof of the above statement:

From the Tax Law Offices of David W. Klasing - The IRS is Coming After Coinbase Users That do not Report Their Profits for Tax Purposes

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.

The above article is borderline with clickbait, but for sure if you have a coinbase account brace yourself for some question asked by IRS:

[BTCappu]

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.

[fillippone]

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.

The difference between Coinbase and other centralised organisations is the unprecedented skew toward the central authority against the customer. The real Coinbase client is the government, not the user. This is a differentiating point, that i also reminded in the first quote of my last post.

[o_e_l_e_o]

The "Transparency Report" is very light on actual details and very heavy on superfluous nonsense about how great Coinbase are at protecting privacy. I would encourage people to apply some critical thinking and not take it at face value.

Coinbase believes that trust is built through transparency and honesty.

Hahaha, good one. Straight off the bat with the biggest lie of the document. Transparency and honesty? That's why you insider traded the BCH launch to dump on your customers? Why you listed a bunch of shitcoins your investors owned so they could dump on your customers? Why you sold your customers' data without their knowledge or consent? Why you lock accounts and seize coins without explanation?

Coinbase believes in protecting the financial privacy of our customers.

Coinbase must honestly think the average crypto user has the attention span of a goldfish, or is just too stupid to notice. They are so interested in protecting your financial privacy that they employ human rights abusers to build technology to spy on you, and then rent that technology to the FBI, CIA, IRS, DEA, and others. So private!

This so called "report" seems to be the next piece of Coinbase's ongoing attempt to rewrite their history and hope people forget what a truly awful company they are.

Delete Coinbase for your own safety.

[larus]

Paypal can be the most anti-bitcoin orgranization #2. I hope that they will sell real bitcoins and will not ban accounts without reasons

[TravelMug]

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



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.

[fillippone]

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



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.

This is another symptom for the real unconvenient truth: the real Coinbase client it's not the user. The real client is the government, who is little interested in trading bitcoin when the price is moving.

[Lorence.xD]

This shouldn't be taken lightly, this could spell doom for the community. 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. If drugs is involved then it will be a futile effort because it is proven that war on drugs is not an effective solution to destroy narcotics epidemic.

[o_e_l_e_o]

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

There are only three things certain in life: Death, taxes, and Coinbase going down whenever bitcoin moves by >5%. I've lost track of just how many times I see people complaining about Coinbase crashing when there is a bullrun. As much as I dislike all centralized exchanges, I don't ever remember seeing a post about the same thing from Binance, or Kraken, or Kucoin, or so on. Coinbase have had billions of dollars and years of time to fix these crashes. The fact that they are still happening means they are either 100% intentional, or they could not give a single fuck about any of their customers. I'm not sure which is worse. With all the unethical and shady shit that Coinbase pulls, I'm pretty much convinced that 90% of Coinbase users have Stockholm Syndrome at this point.

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

Money. The US government pays Coinbase for details of their customers and for their de-anonymizing technology. Coinbase are more than happy to provide it. They do not care about their customers. They care about their profits, and only their profits.

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

The US government wants control, and the easiest way to achieve that is through mass surveillance.

[TravelMug]

Ah the magic of Coinbase, when we thought that they are just going down during a massive spike, think again, during the bitcoin dump, it also went down.



https://status.coinbase.com/incidents/spb19yyvks8y

Let me quote one of their customer,

“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.”

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/11/26/coinbase-hit-by-connection-latency-problems-as-bitcoin-plummets.html

[bryant.coleman]

I am not sure whether we can blame Coinbase here. There is no doubt that their move will negatively impact a lot of cryptocurrency users. But even if they refuse to sell this Blockchain analysis software to IRS and DEA, don't you guys think that the authorities will get a better version from somewhere else? If Coinbase refuses to help them, then they will get the necessary help from somewhere else. How long does it takes, to create such a software if the technical expertise and funds are available?

[o_e_l_e_o]

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.

[bryant.coleman]

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.

Here you are assuming that the conversation between the IRS and Coinbase was civil and voluntary. I am not sure about that. Given the reputation of the IRS, I wouldn't be surprised if they have used unfair tactics in their dealings with Coinbase. If you ask me whether Coinbase had the option to refuse the request from the IRS, then yes. They had that option. But if they do that, they can expect some retaliatory action from the other side. And in this case Coinbase probably gave in to the pressure, instead of creating a fight.

These are just my assumptions. Can be wrong. 

[o_e_l_e_o]

You are confusing handing over customer data to the IRS and building blockchain analytic technology from scratch and then leasing that to the IRS (and DEA, and FBI, and CIA, and othet governments, and anyone and everyone who will pay them for it).

Yes, the government can go to Coinbase and demand they hand over customer data for tax purposes, and Coinbase either have to comply or fight it and expect retaliatory action, as you put it. However, the government can't go to Coinbase and demand that they buy out another company and take on board a number of new employees (morally bankrupt ones at that) and use those acquisitions to develop some new technology to then lease back to them. Coinbase did all that completely voluntarily.