Rick Rolled by Coinbase, so I went to look at their local beautiful SF office...

[CoinCidental]

have you  worked out any estimation of how much you lost ?

IIRC the news was already out on sunday that they were opening the first regulated exchange in 24 states (but it didnt say which ones )

i dont think you can blame them because the price didnt go to  the moon ,it takes people time to trust a new service

IF its good ,it will gather momentum as more people use it and then comes the snowball effect in time

it could be $500 in a month or two

[1715248913]

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[xDan]

Buying on some silly meme announcement and graphic?

You gambled and you lost

If there is any positive effect from this, it will be over a period of many months. Nothing is going to halt the downtrend overnight. Everyone around here should have learned that by now.

[Elwar]

Based on your post that you will be suing them, I will be sure to short Bitcoin because I believe in my heart that you will do so and this will bring the price down some.

[BayAreaCoins]

Buying on some silly meme announcement and graphic?

Not sure since when the Wall Street Journal and every other major news outlet was considered a silly meme / graphics.

Based on your post that you will be suing them, I will be sure to short Bitcoin because I believe in my heart that you will do so and this will bring the price down some.

I do not believe it will hurt Bitcoin.

have you  worked out any estimation of how much you lost ?

Will be seeking at least $220,000 + anything else the lawyers think (obviously court costs, lawyer fees and that stuff as well.)  I hope to see the States start taking some addition action against Coinbase as well.

Hopefully the State of California isn't cool with "Rick Rolling" folks either.

[BlindMayorBitcorn]

Buying on some silly meme announcement and graphic?

Not sure since when the Wall Street Journal and every other major news outlet was considered a silly meme / graphics.

Based on your post that you will be suing them, I will be sure to short Bitcoin because I believe in my heart that you will do so and this will bring the price down some.

I do not believe it will hurt Bitcoin.

have you  worked out any estimation of how much you lost ?

Will be seeking at least $220,000 + anything else the lawyers think (obviously court costs, lawyer fees and that stuff as well.)  I hope to see the States start taking some addition action against Coinbase as well.

Hopefully the State of California isn't cool with "Rick Rolling" folks either.

Have you consulted with an attorney?

[Quickseller]

Personally, I could care less if their work space was known or not, as long as they don't pull a mtgox. I only need to know that my funds are safe. Speaking of which, where can I verify that my fiat on there is indeed FDIC insured? And wouldn't that be great if insurance was also extended to BTC... yeah right 

My understanding is that your fiat balance is not FDIC insured (someone can correct me on this if I am wrong). What I have read is that 'Coinbase's fiat funds will be held at an FDIC insured bank' which means that Coinbase is protected (up to deposit limits) in the event the bank they hold they fiat balance at fails. My understanding is that this is different then FDIC pass though insurance where if the bank fails your portion of Coinbase's deposits are insured up to FDIC limits (assuming you do not have a bank account at the bank in question) plus segregation of customer funds (customer money is kept in separate accounts as company money).

My understanding is that if Coinbase were to fail/file bankruptcy and you had money in your USD balance then the FDIC would not step into protect you

[BayAreaCoins]

Have you consulted with an attorney?

In the process of doing so.

Got this e-mail from Coinbase today.

BayAreaCoins
Subject: An Important Message from Coinbase
JAN 28, 2015  |  04:03PM PST
Darren replied:
Hi,

We noticed your account has conducted a high volume of transactions with Coinbase. We appreciate you being an active customer!

Please know that we are required to periodically review high volume accounts as part of being a Money Service Business. To assist in this process, please provide us with the following information within 7 days to avoid disruption of service to your account:

- Please briefly describe the primary use case for your Coinbase account
- Please describe the source of the bitcoin being deposited into your account that was not purchased through Coinbase
- Please indicate the source of income for your purchases of bitcoin
- Please elaborate on the nature of your outgoing transfers and what services they are related to

Thank you for your understanding on this sensitive matter. If you have any trouble fulfilling this request you can reply directly to this email and we would be happy to assist you.

Respectfully,

Coinbase
Compliance Team




Please tell me where your office is.

Thank you for your understanding on this sensitive matter.

They obviously don't know who the largest pet snail wranger/seller is on this side of side of the world!

www.SnailsInTheMail.com

If you think Bitcoin regulation is tough... you should try flipping a snail or two!

[JorgeStolfi]

Personally, I could care less if their work space was known or not, as long as they don't pull a mtgox. I only need to know that my funds are safe. Speaking of which, where can I verify that my fiat on there is indeed FDIC insured? And wouldn't that be great if insurance was also extended to BTC... yeah right  

My understanding is that your fiat balance is not FDIC insured (someone can correct me on this if I am wrong). What I have read is that 'Coinbase's fiat funds will be held at an FDIC insured bank' which means that Coinbase is protected (up to deposit limits) in the event the bank they hold they fiat balance at fails. My understanding is that this is different then FDIC pass though insurance where if the bank fails your portion of Coinbase's deposits are insured up to FDIC limits (assuming you do not have a bank account at the bank in question) plus segregation of customer funds (customer money is kept in separate accounts as company money).

My understanding is that if Coinbase were to fail/file bankruptcy and you had money in your USD balance then the FDIC would not step into protect you

If customer deposits were insured by FDIC against Coinbase mishaps and misdeed, they would say so on their site.  What they say instead is that their bank account is insured against failure of the bank.  

Moreover I have been told that, in order to get "passthrough" insurance by the FDIC, the company must inform the bank about the balances of each client.  (Can anyone confirm this?) This reporting seems quite impractical for an exchange that will make thousands of trades per hour, 24/7.

As for BTC balances, the site says tha only their "hot wallet" is insured against theft, embezzlement, and other losses.  The site also says that they will keep less than 10% of the clients' BTC funds in the hot wallet.

Add to that the claims of "first in the US", and "licensed in NY and CA".  Coinbase seems to think that marketing is more important than trust, and that misunderstandings like the above are good for business.  To me, they spell immaturity non-trustworthiness.

[Quickseller]

Personally, I could care less if their work space was known or not, as long as they don't pull a mtgox. I only need to know that my funds are safe. Speaking of which, where can I verify that my fiat on there is indeed FDIC insured? And wouldn't that be great if insurance was also extended to BTC... yeah right 

My understanding is that your fiat balance is not FDIC insured (someone can correct me on this if I am wrong). What I have read is that 'Coinbase's fiat funds will be held at an FDIC insured bank' which means that Coinbase is protected (up to deposit limits) in the event the bank they hold they fiat balance at fails. My understanding is that this is different then FDIC pass though insurance where if the bank fails your portion of Coinbase's deposits are insured up to FDIC limits (assuming you do not have a bank account at the bank in question) plus segregation of customer funds (customer money is kept in separate accounts as company money).

My understanding is that if Coinbase were to fail/file bankruptcy and you had money in your USD balance then the FDIC would not step into protect you

If customer deposits were insured by FDIC against Coinbase mishaps and misdeed, they would say so on their site.  What they say instead is that their bank account is insured against failure of the bank. 

Moreover I have been told that, in order to get "passthrough" insurance by the FDIC, the company must inform the bank about the balances of each client.  (Can anyone confirm this?) This reporting seems quite impractical for an exchange that will make thousands of trades per hour, 24/7.

As for BTC balances, the site says tha only their "hot wallet" is insured against theft, embezzlement, and other losses.  The site also says that they will keep less than 10% of the clients' BTC funds in the hot wallet.

Add to that the claims of "first in the US", and "licensed in NY and CA".  Coinbase seems to think that marketing is more important than trust, and that misunderstandings like the above are good for business.  To me, they spell immaturity non-trustworthiness.

According to Howstuffworks(which lists paypal as their source)

Although PayPal itself isn't an FDIC-insured bank, it does keep your funds in various FDIC-insured banks across the country (Go here to see which ones PayPal currently uses). According to PayPal, your funds are eligible for something called pass-through insurance. Basically, this means that you can recover your money even if the bank fails. This insurance does not protect you if PayPal fails, although the company claims that "your funds will also be protected from any claims of PayPal's creditors and will be returned to you even in the unlikely event of a PayPal insolvency"

So in other words pass through FDIC insurance will only protect you against bank failure, not the failure of the company you have your funds on deposit at (which in this case would be coinbase).

You are correct about their hot wallet insurance, which again is really protecting coinbase, not their customers (coinbase likely has sufficient capital to absorb a theft of their hot wallet).

I would say that the assumption that coinbase was in fact licensed in CA and NY has to do with the fact that much/most of the bitcoin related media is really not qualified to be reporting the news (to put it nicely) and the MSM probably picked up on a story by a site like CCN and did not properly check their facts

[CoinCidental]

Buying on some silly meme announcement and graphic?

Not sure since when the Wall Street Journal and every other major news outlet was considered a silly meme / graphics.

Based on your post that you will be suing them, I will be sure to short Bitcoin because I believe in my heart that you will do so and this will bring the price down some.

I do not believe it will hurt Bitcoin.

have you  worked out any estimation of how much you lost ?

Will be seeking at least $220,000 + anything else the lawyers think (obviously court costs, lawyer fees and that stuff as well.)  I hope to see the States start taking some addition action against Coinbase as well.

Hopefully the State of California isn't cool with "Rick Rolling" folks either.

I don't think you blame them for trading on a meme about going to the moon.... Hence you lost money because the meme was wrong?  That's not enough for a case imo

Not sure about the other stuff though.... The advertising sounds a bit misleading

[BayAreaCoins]

I would say that the assumption that coinbase was in fact licensed in CA and NY has to do with the fact that much/most of the bitcoin related media is really not qualified to be reporting the news (to put it nicely) and the MSM probably picked up on a story by a site like CCN and did not properly check their facts

This isn't mom and pop media dude...

http://time.com/money/3682947/coinbase-launches-first-us-bitcoin-exchange/

http://www.cnbc.com/id/102367943

http://www.wsj.com/articles/first-u-s-bitcoin-exchange-set-to-open-1422221641

http://nypost.com/2015/01/26/coinbase-first-regulated-us-bitcoin-exchange-opens/

Checking facts on a Sunday night at 12am with some Rocket racing toward the moon... Pretty hard to pick up the phone and call that state of California then.

6am was the "launch" time here.

I don't think you blame them for trading on a meme about going to the moon.... Hence you lost money because the meme was wrong?  That's not enough for a case imo

Not sure about the other stuff though.... The advertising sounds a bit misleading

FUCK a stupid meme. Jesus christ! Has nothing to do with it really besides being gay and retarded. Not the reason I bought at all.  It was because California had approved and lic these folks.  Turning the Golden Gate City into the Golden Gate of BTC too.

[freedomno1]

have you  worked out any estimation of how much you lost ?

Will be seeking at least $220,000 + anything else the lawyers think (obviously court costs, lawyer fees and that stuff as well.)  I hope to see the States start taking some addition action against Coinbase as well.

Hopefully the State of California isn't cool with "Rick Rolling" folks either.

Best of luck with it BAC
This will be interesting to observe one way or the other

[Quickseller]

I would say that the assumption that coinbase was in fact licensed in CA and NY has to do with the fact that much/most of the bitcoin related media is really not qualified to be reporting the news (to put it nicely) and the MSM probably picked up on a story by a site like CCN and did not properly check their facts

This isn't mom and pop media dude...

http://time.com/money/3682947/coinbase-launches-first-us-bitcoin-exchange/

http://www.cnbc.com/id/102367943

http://www.wsj.com/articles/first-u-s-bitcoin-exchange-set-to-open-1422221641

http://nypost.com/2015/01/26/coinbase-first-regulated-us-bitcoin-exchange-opens/

Checking facts on a Sunday night at 12am with some Rocket racing toward the moon... Pretty hard to pick up the phone and call that state of California then.

6am was the "launch" time here.

I don't think you blame them for trading on a meme about going to the moon.... Hence you lost money because the meme was wrong?  That's not enough for a case imo

Not sure about the other stuff though.... The advertising sounds a bit misleading

FUCK a stupid meme. Jesus christ! Has nothing to do with it really besides being gay and retarded. Not the reason I bought at all.  It was because California had approved and lic these folks.  Turning the Golden Gate City into the Golden Gate of BTC too.

The time article did not mention regulations nor the state of CA. The CNBC article mentioned that the WSJ was reporting that the exchange would be averrable to customers in states they have regulatory approval. The WSJ article (warning: paywall) currently says:(bold by me)

Coinbase’s founders say they have been working for roughly a year to win licenses from state financial regulators. Coinbase will operate exchanges in 24 states. Only account holders in those states can use the exchange.
--snip--
Benjamin Lawsky , the superintendent of the New York State Department of Financial Services, is working on a so-called BitLicense for firms looking to offer digital-currency services in the state; Coinbase is operating under earlier regulations.

I really don't see where CNBC got their above assumption (unless it was from another article).

The WSJ article does have a correction/amplifications note at the bottom that says:(bold by me)

Founders of startup virtual currency exchange Coinbase Inc. have been working to win regulatory approval for roughly a year, and the company is operating bitcoin exchanges in 24 states, including New York and California. An earlier version of this article incorrectly said Coinbase’s founders have been working for five months and have received regulatory approval in half of U.S. states, including New York and California. (Jan. 26, 2015)

[BayAreaCoins]

The time article did not mention regulations nor the state of CA.

"The debut of the Coinbase exchange caused a spike in Bitcoin’s value, from around $250 apiece to more than $300."

Just pointing out that someone else besides me thinks that Coinbase cause some spike in the magical markets based on news that was a lie.

I don't intend on answering any Coinbase emails and I'll pass them all along to the proper legal people.

My income is fine, so don't y'all worry your pants off...

[Quickseller]

The time article did not mention regulations nor the state of CA.

"The debut of the Coinbase exchange caused a spike in Bitcoin’s value, from around $250 apiece to more than $300."

Just pointing out that someone else besides me thinks that Coinbase cause some spike in the magical markets based on news that was a lie.

I don't intend on answering any Coinbase emails and I'll pass them all along to the proper legal people.

My income is fine, so don't y'all worry your pants off...

Well hopefully they will end up giving you something. However the cause of the price increase really was speculation on the reporters side.

[AdamWhite]

Can you elaborate on the 10 hour Rick Roll video hidden in the source code? 

This is really bizarre...

[BayAreaCoins]

Can you elaborate on the 10 hour Rick Roll video hidden in the source code?  

This is really bizarre...

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=rick+rolled&defid=2733819

Originally, to trick someone into watching the extremely catchy "Never Gonna Give You Up" music video by the genius Rick Astley with a fake link (usually with the promise of an exclusive video).

Now used in a more general sense, for any sort of deception or trick.
"I asked for the newest Halo trailer and all I got was the Rickroll video."

"I really hope that J.K. Rowling hasn't rick rolled us with all this Dumbledore business. I would be so disappointed."

"I just rick rolled that guy into singing Evanescence at the top of his lungs in the middle of a Walmart by promising him a reward of $20,000."

I believe the lunar count down was 10 hours too, but not for sure. :-|

[rocoro]

Can you elaborate on the 10 hour Rick Roll video hidden in the source code?  

This is really bizarre...

I think it was meant as joke to anyone that was going looking into the sourcecode.  
(they would find nothing but be "rickrolled" with the rickroll video link)

It wasn't really meant as investing advice or anything to do with investing, nor was it made obvious to general public. (- Except for the guy who posted about it.)

[BayAreaCoins]

I think it was meant as joke to anyone that was going looking into the sourcecode.  
(they would find nothing but be "rickrolled" with the rickroll video link)

It wasn't really meant as investing advice or anything to do with investing, nor was it made obvious to general public. (- Except for the guy who posted about it.)

The lie was the news that the State of California had to come out and correct.  

Dude no one took the video as investing advice (would have been better off!) nor did they did take their silly page, but Rick Rolling us on a regulated and licensed exchange in California & NY ect.... (their page did put pressure on the markets to buy and I'm sure their earnings for that night show it.)

I just got the balls to stand up about this shit. Not many other Bitcoiners want to touch this publicly because they feel like it will hurt their stash or even one dude took down a post he made here because he didn't want security threats for himself speculating where the Coinbase office actually was and I even got a nosey email from Coinbase that I posted above...  

A: Not going to get bullied
B: Not going to get "rick rolled"

The proper Coinbase sentence would be:

"We Rick Rolled the Bitcoin investors out of Millions of dollars + all the fees we earned that night by getting them to thinking we had actually gotten approved and regulated in California and New York."

[coinsurfer12]

Wow, OP, you are such a moron. Good luck with your lawsuit!

(their page did put pressure on the markets to buy and I'm sure their earnings for that night show it.)

A silly teaser page pressured the market to buy? What?

You made a stupid investment decision based on market hype, and it backfired. Now you are just looking for an excuse to sue someone to try to get your money back. If I were to bet, you did not buy btc because Coinbase had the CA license. You just found out that they didn't after you lost your money.

Here are the facts:
1. Coinbase never claimed that they were licensed in CA. They claimed to be licensed and regulated and that they have 15 state licenses (https://www.coinbase.com/legal/licenses)
2. The press jumped to the conclusion that because they supported 24 states, they must have licenses in all states. They didn't bother to even fact check. See link above.
3. Coinbase put up a teaser website to their launch and in the source code they linked the "features" page to a rickroll video to screw around with people who are trying to be clever.
4. Price shot up to $300 after the WSJ saying that Coinbase will launch an exchange.
5. On Monday at 9am EST, they launched the exchange, and the price tumbled to $260. This is a classic buy the rumor and sell the news pattern.
6. On Tuesday, CA released a statement that Coinbase didn't actually have a license. They were correcting the media misinformation. They did not shut Coinbase exchange down as BTC exchange currently does not need a CA license.
7. The price tumbled before the CA news was released. So price had nothing to do with that piece of news.
8. You didn't even trade on the Coinbase exchange. This is based on your claim that Coinbase did not give you enough time to deposit money and your screen shot of losing money in a margin trade, which Coinbase does not have.

So you lost BTC speculating on a news wrongly reported by WSJ and others. And now you want to sue Coinbase, even though you didn't even trade on that exchange. Really? You will have more luck suing WSJ. And it's not like you lost money trading Coinbase stock. You lost money speculating on BTC, which Coinbase has no control over the price.

Here's an analogy:
1) A company announcing that they are opening a license and regulated gold/USD exchange
2) WSJ reported incorrectly that they have a license to do that in CA
3) You bought a ton of gold futures after hearing this rumor
4) You lost a lot of money after gold price crashed for reason unrelated to CA license
5) You now want to sue that company

Good luck!