Coinbase just told me I'm not eligible to purchase BTC. Because the price is up?

[Lowell904]

Coinbase just told me that I'm not eligible to purchase BTC. Is it because the price is up? Or maybe my bank is blocking it. (Wells Fargo)

In any case, a few days ago I went through all the steps to get my bank account verified (gave them my username and password) then placed an order for .5 BTC. They say it takes 4 days, but after 2, and a BTC price increase, they  canceled the order saying it was high risk. I understand it's my first order, so it may take time to built trust, so I added a credit card, verified it, verified my identity, and placed an order for .4 BTC. About a day later and another price increase, I get the same high risk cancelation. When I asked in a email for them to honor the first transaction, they replied that I was not eligible to purchase BTC but didn't state why? I've asked, and also contested the second cancelation and asked that the honor that one too, but I have yet to receive a reply.

Has any one else had similar problems with coinbase? Their fees are low and if I wasn't having issues, the transactions would be simple and user friendly. I want to do business with them. What advice can the community provide? Should I be buying from another vendor? Is Coinbase trustworthy at all?

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[Lowell904]

Okay. I just received a reply about the second transaction, and replied the following.

Yes this is frustrating as I have spent BTC after thinking I was making a purchase from Coinbase and would receive the BTC in 4 days. Would you kindly explain to me why I am not eligible to purchase BTC? Would it help if I put BTC in my Coinbase wallet? I could put the amount that I want to purchase in there if it helps? Is it my bank that is blocking you? (Wells Fargo) I can provide another bank account. I have heard that Wells Fargo has not been kind to Bitcoin businesses. I will gladly switch banks if they won't process transaction. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to resolve this situation.

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Date: Fri, 22 Aug 2014 00:26:00 +0000
From: contact@coinbase.com
To: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx@hotmail.com
Subject: RE: We've canceled your order for 0.40 BTC
__________________________________

Type your response ABOVE THIS LINE to reply
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Subject: RE: We've canceled your order for 0.40 BTC

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AUG 22, 2014  |  05:25PM PDT
George replied:


Hi there,

I understand your frustrations regarding canceled orders.

Per the user agreement, please note that Coinbase may sometimes cancel or reverse potentially high-risk purchases of bitcoin. You can review our user agreement here: https://coinbase.com/legal/user_agreement.

Unfortunately, it looks as if you are ineligible to use the Coinbase platform. I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. Hopefully in the future we will have additional methods and tools to allow you to make buys/sells. Keep in mind that you are still welcome to use our free wallet and bitcoin storage.

Thank you for your understanding.
 
 
 

[GreenCoin22]

LOL

Is it eligible to buy bitcoins?

[bigasic]

i believe he was trying to buy them, correct? I have heard this happen to many people. I too would like to know what their criteria is to "ban" people from buying/selling. I have done both, sold and purchased without a hitch, but that could change as I've hear people that have made successful purchases and sell just one day get banned.

When I signed up, I gave them access to my bank account, it was an option to prove who I was. But, I would like to know what constitutes "high risk"...

[Lucky Cris]

The pull this shit when prices increase. They have a scheme when you sell too; got me for a couple of g's last time. Do a forum search, no one really use them much anymore. At least not those of us who buy in bulk ... Take that back, I don't anymore.

The high risk is always what I got... Never anything about my bank tho. But I think someone posted here a few days ago that WF threatened to close thief account for buying BTC, look into that as well.

[Lowell904]

i believe he was trying to buy them, correct? I have heard this happen to many people. I too would like to know what their criteria is to "ban" people from buying/selling. I have done both, sold and purchased without a hitch, but that could change as I've hear people that have made successful purchases and sell just one day get banned.

When I signed up, I gave them access to my bank account, it was an option to prove who I was. But, I would like to know what constitutes "high risk"...

Yes, I was trying to buy them.

[Lowell904]

I got banned once due to a mixup, and it took a good 2 weeks to get re-instated. Other than that Coinbase has been good for me, and it better stay that way cause I depend on it.

Would be shocking if they banned you for life just cause a small amount of BTC you purchased increased in price, it must be another reason.

I wish Coinbase had phone support, no excuse not to considering how big they are.

Nothing was said about a ban.

I did send a couple of heated emails though, but nothing out of line.

[bigasic]

I actually just chatted with their support with this question. Their response was that their system is quite sophisticated in looking at all transactions. So, if you are sending/receiving to a known gambling site is a red flag, sending to known addresses on the dark web. I have a feeling that they can tell if hit hits TOR.

I have heard from others on the site that they have been told similar things, like they know that they are gambling so they can only use coinbase as a wallet.. Im not sure if you were to send the coins to another wallet would help. I think if you sent your coins to a blockchainwallet and then waited hours, if not days to transfer the coins to coinbase might help, if one was doing something that they didn't like. but their excuse is that they have to abide by all these laws, so I can understand where they are coming from..

Or go thru a mixing service, but I dont think blockchain.info provides that anymore.. I dont know which ones you can trust..

[Lowell904]

I actually just chatted with their support with this question. Their response was that their system is quite sophisticated in looking at all transactions. So, if you are sending/receiving to a known gambling site is a red flag, sending to known addresses on the dark web. I have a feeling that they can tell if hit hits TOR.

I have heard from others on the site that they have been told similar things, like they know that they are gambling so they can only use coinbase as a wallet.. Im not sure if you were to send the coins to another wallet would help. I think if you sent your coins to a blockchainwallet and then waited hours, if not days to transfer the coins to coinbase might help, if one was doing something that they didn't like. but their excuse is that they have to abide by all these laws, so I can understand where they are coming from..

Or go thru a mixing service, but I dont think blockchain.info provides that anymore.. I dont know which ones you can trust..

That should be a non-issue. I have not been able to buy any coins to send anywhere.

[titulng]

This is the usual style for coinbase, if they once found themselves may bear the risk of price fluctuations with bitcoin, they will prohibit customers to buy and sell.

[Lowell904]

This is the usual style for coinbase, if they once found themselves may bear the risk of price fluctuations with bitcoin, they will prohibit customers to buy and sell.

Any recommendations on alternative vendors?

[SanMerryDro]

This is the usual style for coinbase, if they once found themselves may bear the risk of price fluctuations with bitcoin, they will prohibit customers to buy and sell.

Any recommendations on alternative vendors?

I think you could try LakeTrader, simple buy and sell, the streamlined orders is intuitive and smooth!

[evo34]

Is there an updated list of exchanges like coinbase, that allow for easy transfers to/from US bank accounts?  Looking for something similar to coinbase.

[heito96]

I've never felt anything like it, probably Coinbase do not want to lose  huehuehuehue

[Lowell904]

Well in any case, I closed my Wells Fargo account and switched to a small local bank. This is the second time I've closed a Wells Fargo account.  The only reason I went back was because they offered me $100.

[Lucky Cris]

Is there an updated list of exchanges like coinbase, that allow for easy transfers to/from US bank accounts?  Looking for something similar to coinbase.

Coinbase isn't an exchange.

[Lucky Cris]

Is there an updated list of exchanges like coinbase, that allow for easy transfers to/from US bank accounts?  Looking for something similar to coinbase.

Coinbase isn't an exchange.

Then replace "exchange" with "marketplace."  Same question.

Um no. I knew what you meant, just making it clear for others reading this that CB is not an exchange. There are several vendors, just be careful who you put your trust in. CB is the most trusted, although they have shady practices. They don't down right take your BTC, they do it very sneakily, lol. Anyhow, if you have virwox, they only charge 1% to send to you PP. Of course that requires a high premium to sell your BTC for fiat... But it's an option. They were an exchange for digital currency (linden) before BTC. I buy BTC from them, but have never used their PP service tho.

[itsAj]

It doesn't look like they canceled your order because the price went up, they canceled it because their internal risk models showed you as being a high risk customer. They likely do not take price into consideration when deciding if they are going to cancel a transaction as this would be negative to their reputation. With that being said I would highly doubt that a lot of people are going to be complaining that they canceled their order when the market turned against them.

[Lucky Cris]

It doesn't look like they canceled your order because the price went up, they canceled it because their internal risk models showed you as being a high risk customer. They likely do not take price into consideration when deciding if they are going to cancel a transaction as this would be negative to their reputation. With that being said I would highly doubt that a lot of people are going to be complaining that they canceled their order when the market turned against them.

OKAY - You need to STFU. Evidently you don't know what the hell you're talking about. Just STOP trying to talk about something you know nothing about. You ever placed a 10btc order with them? You ever sold to them in 20btc + increments? Evidently NOT because you'd know how they get you. So step the fuck aside and let the people who's experienced with Coinbase's scammy ass ways do the talking.

Yes - Coinbase is known for cancelling orders. But I'm not about to waste my time explaining their methods - go search the damn forum. He'll you even find where I posted how they got me when I SOLD btc! Yes, it goes both ways - buying and selling. You best believe Coinbase is looking out for them. And negative to their reputation?! Puh leez - They have several SCAMMER's threads here .

[dlowings]

It doesn't look like they canceled your order because the price went up, they canceled it because their internal risk models showed you as being a high risk customer. They likely do not take price into consideration when deciding if they are going to cancel a transaction as this would be negative to their reputation. With that being said I would highly doubt that a lot of people are going to be complaining that they canceled their order when the market turned against them.

No disrespect, but this is about the most lame answer I have ever seen. You can't accuse the customer being a risk in this case, the risk is all on the back of coinbase and them not wanting to take ANY type of loss that might be due to BTC price fluctuations . So they picked a business and want o limit their risk by screwing the customer, its that SIMPLE . if I put in a ACH transfer, and my bank accepts it the deal should be done . Its not like the customer didn't have the money . no where in this case do I see where the customer did not have the money or was declined by his bank. Simple answer, work local and buy BTC local via craigslist or something similar . This business model coinbase is using is from and era that has long since died .. Person to Person transitions is the best way to deal with this .

[itsAj]

It doesn't look like they canceled your order because the price went up, they canceled it because their internal risk models showed you as being a high risk customer. They likely do not take price into consideration when deciding if they are going to cancel a transaction as this would be negative to their reputation. With that being said I would highly doubt that a lot of people are going to be complaining that they canceled their order when the market turned against them.

No disrespect, but this is about the most lame answer I have ever seen. You can't accuse the customer being a risk in this case, the risk is all on the back of coinbase and them not wanting to take ANY type of loss that might be due to BTC price fluctuations . So they picked a business and want o limit their risk by screwing the customer, its that SIMPLE . if I put in a ACH transfer, and my bank accepts it the deal should be done . Its not like the customer didn't have the money . no where in this case do I see where the customer did not have the money or was declined by his bank. Simple answer, work local and buy BTC local via craigslist or something similar . This business model coinbase is using is from and era that has long since died .. Person to Person transitions is the best way to deal with this .

If coinbase did not properly manage their risk then they would need to charge a much higher spread to their customers. It is these risk models that allow people to buy bitcoin from them quickly and without having to pay a huge spread over other ways to buy bitcoin. If I had to guess they probably actually end up canceling more orders when the price is declining because people are most likely going to try to use their bank to get out of a trade because they have lost money.

[thisbtcguy]

From experience, Coinbase automatically flags your account when anything fishy happens. I have had this happen three times now. First Chase closed my account without notice due to Bitcoin dealings. Then Wells Fargo. Then PNC. Each time Coinbase attempted to execute a trade I had placed and the bank account was frozen, my Coinbase account was automatically frozen as well. I then had to contact customer support via e-mail and explain the situation to get my account reinstated. There are several things that could cause your account to get flagged though. This is all automatic and has nothing to do with the price.

[haploid23]

I have had this happen three times now. First Chase closed my account without notice due to Bitcoin dealings. Then Wells Fargo. Then PNC. Each time Coinbase attempted to execute a trade I had placed and the bank account was frozen, my Coinbase account was automatically frozen as well.

Wow that's quite a bit of bank account closures. How large were your transactions? It has nothing to do with btc price, but the fiat amount you're trying to transfer will make or break you. It's my experience that once your bank account gets closed, you're actually banned from that bank.

[bigasic]

A few months ago I was selling quite a few bitcoins, they had some sort of error, it didnt say it was denied on coinbase, it just showed that they took my 20 something coins and never transfered the money to the bank. After a few hours of talking with their customer support, they credited the coins back to me.. im glad they did, the price went up by about 60- 80 dollars.. so that little error of theirs saved me a lot of money...

But I have heard from many people how they will cancel orders if the price goes against them.. But you would think it would go both ways, they may lose a lot from a seller, but they should make it up from a buyer.. I have no idea how coinbase works, all I know is that I haven't had an issue with them but have heard of many horror stories....

[thisbtcguy]

I have had this happen three times now. First Chase closed my account without notice due to Bitcoin dealings. Then Wells Fargo. Then PNC. Each time Coinbase attempted to execute a trade I had placed and the bank account was frozen, my Coinbase account was automatically frozen as well.

Wow that's quite a bit of bank account closures. How large were your transactions? It has nothing to do with btc price, but the fiat amount you're trying to transfer will make or break you. It's my experience that once your bank account gets closed, you're actually banned from that bank.

Had several cash deposits and withdrawals in the thousands combined with activity from "coinbase.com." I found the magic recipe for getting your bank account closed

[itsAj]

From experience, Coinbase automatically flags your account when anything fishy happens. I have had this happen three times now. First Chase closed my account without notice due to Bitcoin dealings. Then Wells Fargo. Then PNC. Each time Coinbase attempted to execute a trade I had placed and the bank account was frozen, my Coinbase account was automatically frozen as well. I then had to contact customer support via e-mail and explain the situation to get my account reinstated. There are several things that could cause your account to get flagged though. This is all automatic and has nothing to do with the price.

What likely happened after the first time is that coinbase somehow flagged the transaction as high risk to your bank who then went and closed your account to prevent risk themselves. This would cause the coinbase transaction to not go through, making you look even more risky in their eyes.

[haploid23]

Had several cash deposits and withdrawals in the thousands combined with activity from "coinbase.com." I found the magic recipe for getting your bank account closed

You were buying btc, so why did you have cash depots AND withdraw at the same time? Large cash amounts like this trigger money laundering to the banks. If they cannot follow you money other than coinbase transaction, they'll just close your account just to be on the safe side.

[thisbtcguy]

Had several cash deposits and withdrawals in the thousands combined with activity from "coinbase.com." I found the magic recipe for getting your bank account closed

You were buying btc, so why did you have cash depots AND withdraw at the same time? Large cash amounts like this trigger money laundering to the banks. If they cannot follow you money other than coinbase transaction, they'll just close your account just to be on the safe side.

I had large cash withdrawals as well because I would also purchase BTC directly from miners by depositing cash into their bank accounts. Definitely way too much cash flowing in and out and it got flagged. They never give a direct reason. All three banks just gave a similar rendition of: "We no longer deem it mutually beneficial to maintain a relationship with you."

[zetaray]

I have not dealt with coinbase before, so I have no personal experience of this, but I remember reading coinbase canceling orders a few times on this forum. Is this a widespread issue? Looks like they are cheating those who buys cheap.