Are you a gambler? STAY AWAY FROM COINBASE!

[CoinsCoinsEverywhere]

It sounds like were opening up a can of worms here.
That said all I know for certain is that if a service is monitoring and tracking every financial transaction with or without my consent and this applies to all users, I don't want any part of it.

Their is a reason that the law operates with the words innocent until proven guilty beyond the shadow of a doubt not from the perspective of if this is suspicious but we don't have enough evidence we will take preventive actions without our due diligence.
A precedent like this is concerning and its not what I would expect of a new financial industry there is compliance and then their is monitoring with a fine toothed comb for any mistakes.

Could you please explain to me how a financial institution could function without keeping track of all transactions?  And how it could interface with the "outside world" (i.e., fiat financial institutions) without being regulated in a similar fashion?  If you want bitcoin institutions to be legit, which is necessary to increase bitcoin adoption, they will have to be regulated in a similar fashion to fiat institutions.

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[aigeezer]

I just withdrew the few BTC crumbs that were in my account at Coinbase. They won't miss me, but as a matter of principle I also wanted to close my account with them and couldn't find a way to do it on the site. Any advice on how to do it without hassle? (Phone calls or support tickets are hassle in my world. I'm a tired old man).          

Thanks for any specific suggestions.

Edit: Update. I couldn't find it anywhere on the site, but after a bit of Google sleuthing I found this link and it seemed to work: https://coinbase.com/settings/cancel

Edit: Update - a bit more detail about my situation, in case it was not clear.

I should have mentioned that I am not American. "The rules" Coinbase is trying to follow do not apply to me or to 95% of the world's populace for that reason.

I believe it is a huge tactical blunder for an exchange that says on its home page "Coinbase is an international digital wallet that allows you to securely buy, use, and accept bitcoin currency", and that hosts its servers in Costa Rica (according to Flagfox) - to apply parochial American rules to its non-American clients. I had no quibble at all with Coinbase until this came to light.

If their home page had (truthfully) said "Coinbase is an American digital wallet that allows - blah blah - if you abide by all rules that apply to American citizens" then I would have known to avoid it.

That said, I have a certain amount of sympathy for their plight. They are obviously under duress from their government. However that does not give them the right to put their international users under duress as a result.

Funnily enough, I don't even use online gambling sites but I value having the freedom to do so if I wish. Coinbase lost my account and gained nothing at all for themselves or their government.






 

[coins101]

I think closing down accounts at Coinbase does send a strong message. I would do the same.

However, tracking coins has been going on for some time.  Transactions mapping was demonstrated a few years ago:



The difference now is that exchanges that are trying to play by the rules are getting caught by their new regulatory employees and advisors who come from the established financial sector -  who are more cautious, especially as gaming is a heavily regulated sector.

This is compounded by the advance of BitLicences.

Gaming operators need to do more to educate themselves on the block chain tracking tools and the IP matching tools out there.

If not, we will get to a point where customers are stuck between exchanges that are closing down accounts and gaming sites whose customers transactions become increasingly mapped and possibly black listed.

Customers will have to make decisions about gaming with particular operators vs. ease of cashing in/out through exchanges.

[alani123]

Gaming operators need to do more to educate themselves on the block chain tracking tools and the IP matching tools out there.

If not, we will get to a point where customers are stuck between exchanges that are closing down accounts and gaming sites whose customers transactions become increasingly mapped and possibly black listed.

Customers will have to make decisions about gaming with particular operators vs. ease of cashing in/out through exchanges.

Most game websites already inform the players about the wallets the should be using. On chain games that send coins back to the address that sent the transaction already can't allow coinbase users to play. And now this. Maybe what they should do is to raise awarness of what coinbase is doing and that they should be using an entirely different wallet service if they're going to gamble. Because using a washing service/tumber won't solve the problem for more than a single transaction.

[Keyser Soze]

I don't see how this is surprising at all. They are in the US, registered as an MSB and the US does not allow online gambling. MSBs or other financial service companies must comply with the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). If they willfully allow transactions from known gambling addresses, they would be violating the UIGEA and could face legal consequences. Don't get mad at Coinbase for following regulations.

If you are outside the US, in a country where online gambling is legal, then you should really use something else as a wallet as Coinbase still has to abide by US laws.

[aigeezer]

I don't see how this is surprising at all. They are in the US, registered as an MSB and the US does not allow online gambling. MSBs or other financial service companies must comply with the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). If they willfully allow transactions from known gambling addresses, they would be violating the UIGEA and could face legal consequences. Don't get mad at Coinbase for following regulations.

If you are outside the US, in a country where online gambling is legal, then you should really use something else as a wallet as Coinbase still has to abide by US laws.

I say again, emphasis added: I believe it is a huge tactical blunder for an exchange that says on its home page "Coinbase is an international digital wallet that allows you to securely buy, use, and accept bitcoin currency", and that hosts its servers in Costa Rica (according to Flagfox) - to apply parochial American rules to its non-American clients.

[alani123]

So we also have misleading advertisement... Thank you aigeezer

[CoinsCoinsEverywhere]

I don't see how this is surprising at all. They are in the US, registered as an MSB and the US does not allow online gambling. MSBs or other financial service companies must comply with the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). If they willfully allow transactions from known gambling addresses, they would be violating the UIGEA and could face legal consequences. Don't get mad at Coinbase for following regulations.

If you are outside the US, in a country where online gambling is legal, then you should really use something else as a wallet as Coinbase still has to abide by US laws.

I say again, emphasis added: I believe it is a huge tactical blunder for an exchange that says on its home page "Coinbase is an international digital wallet that allows you to securely buy, use, and accept bitcoin currency", and that hosts its servers in Costa Rica (according to Flagfox) - to apply parochial American rules to its non-American clients.

From https://coinbase.com/about (emphasis mine):

"The Company At A Glance
Founded in June of 2012, Coinbase is a bitcoin wallet and platform where merchants and consumers can transact with the new digital currency bitcoin.

We're based in San Francisco, California."

Their headquarters are in the US, which is what matters.

[cloverme]

That's a retarded rule from coinbase... I hate when service companies go down the road of "related to gambling, get lost..." yet you go to vegas and there's every bank ATM you could possible imagine there. 

[aigeezer]

Their headquarters are in the US, which is what matters.

Their site is deceptive, which is what matters to me.