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No, I am not defending Coinbase.  Just pointing out that, as a legal commercial business, they are probably required by law to keep all their business records for five years. (I say "probably" because I am not certain that such is the law in the US; it is here in Brazil.)  The purpose of that law is to ensure that the IRS can do a tax audit (of Coinbase, or of any of their customers), and law enforcement agencies can use the data in their investigations, within that time frame.

I doubt that the courts will force Coinbase to break the law, only because you do not like it.

It sounds like you kind of are defending Coinbase.  Irrespective of what the business records requirements are of them, if a customer is done with them and wants the data off of their servers, I will continue to argue that they should remove it.  I'm not interested in stale standards or companies that don't respect users.  I'm going a different path.  

Not to defend Coinbase or anything, but they must be required by law to keep all their business records for five years, if only for tax auditing purposes.  

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The root of the issue is choice. 

If you believe that coercion and violence should be used to accomplish the ends you desire, then you abandon choice and you favor modern regulation and the rule of law - backed, of course, by coercion and violence.

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It is also notable that in most countries, the 'shadow economy' is the real economy, clocking in at over 80 percent of all monetary flow, and that percentage is growing.  Indeed, even before the development of the internet, the 'shadow economy' (really what should be called the real economy) was collectively larger than all aspects of regulated transactions combined.  This is telling and should provide for the casual observer a general foreshadowing of a world in which regulated economic activity (and notions of regulated or classical identity) drop from the approximate 20 percent figure to something in the four to five percent range.  It is likely that you will see societies that are a direct reflection of this aforementioned reality evolve in less than 20 years' time.

In any event, mechanisms of social organization, whether they are a result of physical assemblages and direct interactions of persons without much use of technology, or social organizations that emanate more from the usage of technology, will not ultimately support those who believe that coercion, violence, jail, and war should be used to back the rule sets that they believe are necessary.  You may ask why not, since after all violence will always be present and there will always be coercive agents, and the reason is because as time goes on, individuals and associations will increasingly be empowered by a broader range of choices - and they will be able to make them independent of the corporation-states that came to prominence 226 years ago.

Thus at the root of this is choice, and technology which empowers people to make choices that can be concealed from coercive and violent actors.

You have a choice.  Those who insist on clinging to the past will have progressively fewer choices to make as time goes on, and those who cling to the past and demand that others comply with their will (and threaten us with violence or jail if we do not) will find themselves in the wastebin of history.  You can prepare by understanding that the choices you make today will be part and parcel of what we today, call "the future."

I recently closed my Coinbase.com account permanently.  Or tried to.  I demanded they erase all record of my data they have on their servers (except for transactions, duh, because they are on the blockchain), and they told me they planned on keeping my data for FIVE YEARS.  I told them they'd be hearing from my lawyer.  (Not sure if I actually want to go down that legal road yet, but I do know I'll never be talking to, or using Coinbase again.)

Very interesting situation. Thank you for sharing. Coinbase $10 compensation was  

For face to face txs, I use mycelium or the blockchain app on my droid.
Coinbase tx takes 1 hour to usually show up on the blockchain.

I liked Coinbase.

That is, until last night.

I sell a lot of BTC locally. I met up with a new buyer last night that was going to buy 10 BTC in cash.

First time, new buyers, with a lot of cash on them are nervous people. Rightfully so, I suppose. After all, they are meeting a stranger from the internet to buy an intangible item that is shrouded in unknowns to the average Joe.

I have the Coinbase wallet on my Android phone. So, I sent 10 BTC from my laptop to my phone and met up with the buyer 2 hours later at a Starbucks.

We're sitting there, he counts out the money for the first transfer. Then I count it. It's correct. The money stays on the table underneath the edge of his laptop.

I scan his QR code with my android and send him the first transfer to his address.

10 seconds go by...nothing showing up on blockchain.
A minute goes by...nothing showing up on blockchain.
5 minutes go by...nothing showing up on blockchain.
15 minutes go by...nothing showing up on blockchain.

His nervousness is starting to become obvious. The transfer is sent according to my Coinbase app, having been deducted from my Available BTC balance.

30 minutes go by...nothing showing up on blockchain.
AN HOUR goes by...nothing showing up on blockchain.
TWO HOURS go by...nothing showing up on blockchain.

After two hours of sitting there, he informs me that he has to go pick up 2 couches from a guy on Craigslist. The problem is, he doesn't want to leave without his cash if the blockchain isn't showing the transfer. I can't leave without the money because I've already sent the coins.

We're in a bit of a quagmire.

He's sitting there, skeptical as can be. He thinks I'm trying to hustle him...and I'm definitely not.

Long story short? I end up helping him carry 2 *MASSIVE* couches out of one apartment and into his truck. Then driving the couches 20 minutes away to his girlfriends house and carrying them UP THREE FLIGHTS OF STAIRS. The one couch was so large it took us 45 minutes to get it through the final door into the apartment. It was probably 90-100% humidity and 85 degrees. I was wearing dress pants and flip flops. I wasn't planning on playing Sanford and Son.

At this point it is FOUR HOURS after I sent the transfer...and surprisingly it is *STILL* not showing up on the blockchain.

I had enough. I give him the cash back and tell him I'll meet up with him the next day. I'm trusting that he won't take the coins and run, something my better judgement tells me not to do.

9 hours later he texts me. The transfer finally went through. He met me at an IKEA this afternoon and settled up. A man of his word. I definitely respect that.

What did I learn? Coinbase is awful to use as a practical, every day wallet. They ultimately decide how YOU spend YOUR bitcoin. This is very much reminiscent of Paypal. No thanks.

I sent a support ticket to Coinbase Support and received a reply that they were "having an issue syncing to the blockchain". I think we all know this is nonsense. Loss prevention tactic of some sort is more likely. Like some sort of stunt Paypal would pull.

In my last reply to Coinbase Support, I asked for compensation for the entire ordeal. You know how they give referral fees to people for referring new customers? I told them they should send me that as damages for the entire ordeal. I promised to buy an extra large slurpee with the Bitcoin, if they send it.

If they actually send me the free btc, I'll post a pic of the slurpee.

Either way, I won't be using Coinbase as my "hot" wallet anymore.

Blockchain Android app it is!

I could really use that slurpee right about now..

I was wearing dress pants and flip flops