Their headquarters are in the US, which is what matters.
Their site is deceptive, which is what matters to me.
Topic: Are you a gambler? STAY AWAY FROM COINBASE! (Read 4600 times)
Their headquarters are in the US, which is what matters.
Their site is deceptive, which is what matters to me.
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.
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.
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.
So we also have misleading advertisement... Thank you 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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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.
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.
I think everyone's overreacting here, or at least those who are blaming Coinbase probably shouldn't be. These changes were likely encouraged by their legal team. They can't risk being caught knowingly helping others to fund illegal activities.
It's certainly over-the-top to suggest that Coinbase doesn't care about freedom. That's completely unfair.
It's certainly over-the-top to suggest that Coinbase doesn't care about freedom. That's completely unfair.
This is just a taste of things to come.
Coinbase are operating to the letters of the current laws. They will have even more restrictions when BitLicences come out and other States start adopting them.
If you can't see the writing on the wall, then yeah, this sounds unfair.
The legal team at Coinbase will be advising the directors of Coinbase and the responsible shareholders. They are personally responsible and none of them will want criminal proceedings against them - not with a US justice system that operates on the basis of forced negotiations and strong arm tactics to obtain admissions of guilt instead of going to trial.
You have to remember that online gaming in the USA is illegal. That also means that US citizens using overseas gaming sites creates arrest warrants for the overseas gaming firms, plus those who facilitate the transactions.
Because the tools available to track bitcoins are common and relatively easy to use for firms such as Coinbase, they will have a duty to use them.
They are among the most able from a technical point of view to deploy block chain tracking. They would have no defense for facilitating or participating with illegal gaming on US soil - if that is what Federal and State law enforcement officials interpret as their actions.
Add to that the vested interests that forced the laws through to make online gaming illegal, who would be pushing for those that enable Bitcoin to be used to skirt around their laws to be arrested.
Sorry, but this problem is just the tip of the iceberg. that is the price for mass adoption of Bitcoin. Satoshi saw it in 2010 - please see sig for reference.
I think everyone's overreacting here, or at least those who are blaming Coinbase probably shouldn't be. These changes were likely encouraged by their legal team. They can't risk being caught knowingly helping others to fund illegal activities.
It's certainly over-the-top to suggest that Coinbase doesn't care about freedom. That's completely unfair.
It's certainly over-the-top to suggest that Coinbase doesn't care about freedom. That's completely unfair.
I was not just blaming coinbase, I'm aware that they're following the law which tends to be strict. It's obvious that a multimillion dollar company doesn't want to take any legal risks but if you aren't aware of what's happening, they're shutting down accounts of people because of the law.
They would obviously have to monitor transactions in order to do this, bigasic mentioned that they have software that does this. But its not only that, accounts have been shut down just for receiving/sending coins to what is mentioned as an unlawful service. So if someone sends coins from Silk Road to an address of yours, coinbase has the right to terminate your account and deny you access to any of their services. All this even if you live in neverland and US laws should have no effect on you. In addition there would be a record of you engaging unlawful activities from a company that closely cooperates with central authorities.
Does that sound reasonable to you? A wallet that (aside of all the negative things I mentioned before) monitors your transactions and asks for your personal information? That's why I'm saying that using coinbase as a wallet service is madness.
It sounds pretty reasonable to me. Why would a company want to be involved in illegal activities? What's the point of having laws if they're just going to be ignored?
Edit: And how would you expect them to be able to interface with fiat banking services without knowing who you are and monitoring your activities? Having my identity attached to an account seems like a good thing. Otherwise people could steal my money, and I'd have no way of proving it was ever mine to begin with.
Can anyone even confirm if this is true?? I'm thinking its only on people sending massive amounts of money back into the account looking to cashout into threre bank account ?
Just as easy to follow .001 as it is to follow 10000 on the blockchain.
Can anyone even confirm if this is true?? I'm thinking its only on people sending massive amounts of money back into the account looking to cashout into threre bank account ?
Mix your coins with DRK then let them try to track you 
How do they just "know" the major wallets to online gambling sites? There's been some information sharing for sure.
How do they just "know" the major wallets to online gambling sites? There's been some information sharing for sure.
The exchanges sees bitcoins coming in the account and out of the account... DRK doesn't matter. (No offense)
coinbase is turning into paypal.
Mix your coins with DRK then let them try to track you
How do they just "know" the major wallets to online gambling sites? There's been some information sharing for sure.
How do they just "know" the major wallets to online gambling sites? There's been some information sharing for sure.
okay now im having another issue. Bitcoin Core is taking too long to confirm my receiving transactions, (from what i understand it takes an hour for the transactions to confirm but i cannot wait an hour) or is there another desktop bitcoin wallet that has the address switching feature of bitcoin core but has the instant confirmation of multibit? P.S. I really appreciate your help.
On average, a bitcoin transaction with standard fee and no unconfirmed inputs should be confirmed in ~10 minutes, but it may also take just 10 seconds or more than an hour for the miners to find the next block.
Using different wallet clients won't change the confirmation time, as long as your transaction is broadcast to the network successfully.
So i should stick with Bitcoin Core? and it was just bad timing with my transactions?
Well, it is up to you.
The problem of long confirmation time of your transaction was very likely just bad timing.
And if you don't have much problem storing the whole block data in your computer, I would suggest you to stick with Bitcoin Core.
thanks ill stick with Bitcoin Core as i heard it helps improves the network (though i dont know if its true)
Oooh better not gamble online, it hurts so many people, must only do it in real life then daddy is ok with it
Like the guy above said, wash your coins through darkcoin, then cash out.
Like the guy above said, wash your coins through darkcoin, then cash out.
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