Topic: #DeleteCoinbase - what is going on with Coinbase? (Read 624 times)

Third-party custody is for obvious reasons (no need to school me on those reasons, thank you very much) always a problem but is something you have to take into consideration if you're planning on using any third party service that involves exchanging your cryptocurrency. The premise of this topic is the #DeleteCoinbase controversy and third-party custody is not the reason why the #DeleteCoinbase hashtag started circulating over the internet in the first place (despite it being a big issue when using these services but that's besides the point here).

You are totally right and I was in shock when my friend wants to buy something from an online shop (one time when he was in my home) and after a few clicks, he was ready to fill his credit card number on a random page totally without any due diligence.

I was sitting next to him and watched closely his steps online and I don't wonder that so many people get scammed. This guy was already scammed a few times and still, he hasn't learned his lesson.

When I asked him "what the hell he is doing?" he answers that "this is only 50 bucks and he will start chargeback if something goes wrong".
I tried to tell him how to do it correctly and check such an online shop but he seems not to be interested and changed the topic after a few tips.

Something I just can't understand because I would have a really bad day if I will be scammed. All these headaches around the chargeback and of course attempt to contact support from the scammy online service cost only additional time and efforts. This same time he could spend to learn how to be safe online.

All these credit cards, PayPal and insurances, made people lazy and secured that no matter what they will get their money back.

As for now, I was never scammed online because I am paranoid when it goes to due diligence and I would spend a lot more time checking the shops as looking for the best deal.
Additionally, I like to know the in an outs and this the main difference between me and my friend.

both of them are current problems. in fact whenever you give up control over your private keys, it means that you are putting your "money" at risk because now Coinbase can do anything they want, from running away (worst case scenario) to simply closing your account because they didn't like your activities!
the privacy (personal identity) part is the obvious one since the service is located in US and is operating under US laws.

There are tons of reasons why that may be the case. But how has the amount of coverage a given topic gets something to do with anything besides the topic being hot or viral? It certainly doesn't make the topic any less factual. Just because terror attacks in the east get next to no coverage in Western media doesn't mean they're not happening.


I don't feel like the safety of your assets is at the core of the (current) problem, but rather the safety of your personal identity.

Yes, I know that when I will search in Google for #DeleteCoinbase there will be plenty of articles.

I wondered why I haven't seen anything in Google news or other crypto related media services?

I am using Cryptopanic which is always on and with my filters set up so I see all important news and there was nothing to find in the first days.

Today I see already articles popping up on Cryptopanic and other services about Coinbase so it was just a piece of very fresh news, I assume.

Honestly, if you are a registered member on Coinbase and have agreed to verify with them I think the damage has already been done. Chances are your data is already in the possession of another company, so even if they were to start deleting the data I am afraid it's too late for most. I also have no idea how the EU is going to enforce its policies unless someone can prove that Coinbase has been illegally selling the data and takes it to court.

Wow. Here a couple of highlights I found browsing twitter yesterday.

Coinbase's head of sales Christine Sandler said that Coinbase decided to buy Neutrino because their current providers were "selling client data to outside sources".

Coinbase are preventing users from closing their accounts. They are also saying they cannot delete data within the GDPR legal limit of 30 days because of the "complexity of your request". How the simple act of deleting your data is "complex" is beyond me.


Yeah, at this point, it has nothing to do with your funds. If you verified with Coinbase, your identity is at risk. They have admitted to selling your data to outside sources, and are now illegally refusing to delete client data.

I don’t think I’ll delete my Coinbase account, but I don’t keep a lot of money there because it’s always a risk. We must remember that storing funds in the account can lead to their loss.

Beside diligence, I'd personally think most of the people are blinded by the volatility of the markets. I mean the amount of profit could be given by the markets is tremendous. They see cryptocurrency as a way to get rich quick scheme, while the fact is beyond that. Especially on the enthusiasm phase on the latest bull run, a lot of people are barely knew about cryptocurrency without having any solid understanding and foundation, and they are blindly jumping on the cryptocurrencies market space.

It all comes back to due diligence, and it is the same pattern of behaviour we see with ICOs. People see some piece of advertising, and are then completely happy sending their documents, their hard earned money, or both to some anonymous stranger after doing exactly zero research or reading about the project, and then act surprised when they get scammed. This is just the latest in a long line of persistently shady activity shown by Coinbase over the years. I would suggest anyone closing their account with Coinbase does some research before jumping ship to a new exchange.

The only glimmer of hope here is for EU citizens, due to last year's GDPR laws from the EU meaning companies are legally required to delete your data on request. Coinbase might still ignore the laws, but there is at least the incentive of avoiding a hefty fine for them to actually delete your data as requested.

I won't be deleting my account because they offer me BTC deposits and withdrawals without verification. Last year it was said that they will force everyone to verify themselves, but I can still freely use my account there.

A lot of people use Coinbase to move value instantly within their ecosystem, and as long as that is the case, most people will continue to use them. What alternative is there to Coinbase?

I'm sure that by the time people start fomo buying again they will sign up to Coinbase and start from scratch. If there were alternatives that were legit better, ok, it makes sense to leave, but there aren't for most people here...

i sometimes get worried about what has happened to this community. it seems like majority of people are newbies with their heads in the sand!

the only thing that this news tells me is that all these people who are these days over excited and are closing their coinbase accounts are newbies who had no idea what they were and are doing. nothing has changed about Coinbase, the only thing that has changed is a social media drama campaign that is hyping them up to follow it like a sheep!

when you use Coinbase which a US based centralized service with a history of reporting every single move of their customer to multiple 3 letter agencies you really can't be surprised when they expand their services to other things like blockchain analysis and acquire teams like those hackers,...
your surprise is like jumping in a pool and then being surprised about why you got wet!!!

Yes. There are some more on the list that can/will be next. Blockchain.com for example. Redundant shithole. Promising Segwit upgrade rollout early 2018, and right now we still don't have it, and probably never will unless they're on the brink of collapsing.

BitPay. Another service that doesn't upgrade to Segwit to allow people to enjoy lower fees. Instead, they now require Bitcoiners to pay an additional fee if they want to settle payments.

LOL.  alrighty then.  its settled AND i think we can find a new place to bash now?

IIRC, Coinbase (or any other licensed/registered exchange) legally isn't allowed to delete all user data they store on their servers.

The thing with verifying yourself at whatever exchange is that you should consider your private information to be compromised for ever. There is literally nothing you can do about it. Even the exchange's word that they did delete all your data is worthless. In case of Coinbase, they have violated their own terms to list XRP, and they have participated in insider trading more than once, so that's shadiness on top of more shadiness.

Down with Coinbase.

LOL
I forgot my old phone number now imagine how old my Coinbase account was. The reality for me now is that I can not close this account since I can not recover it anymore.

May be I need to find someone who might have knows my old number.

You can't, really. You can close your account, and you can email their support and ask them to delete all the information they hold on you, but you have no guarantee that they won't just say they've deleted it but actually continue to store it. Given how generally shady Coinbase's behaviour is, I think it is more than likely that they will continue to hold your information.


The articles are there, they just maybe aren't widely circulated because Coinbase is so popular, and users generally don't like thinking they are using a scummy exchange, and prefer to turn a blind eye to the whole thing. Just Google/DuckDuckGo Coinbase insider trading or Coinbase Digital Currency Group and you will get plenty of hits confirming what I'm talking about.

#DeleteCoinbase hashtag on Twitter is still grabbing a lot of attention from the crypto community.

I see that Coinbase don't comment on this and I don't know if this is the right decision.

This could influence this company in a really bad way. Don't forget that this is not the first #Delete... campaign and they achieved astonishing success.

Tried to find any comment from Coinbase but couldn't. Maybe they think that quiet game will stop the fud. I don't know.

Despite all problems when it goes to buy and sell BTC, ETH and few other Coinbase were my favorite service.

Now I will have mixed fillings when try to use them next time.

Uhm... AFAIK, ATM's CCTV cameras can see in the dark using infrared sensors (which why CCTV videos at night were black&whites).

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Why is this an issue to them?
It's a centralized service which should abide by the law and protect its security, they are doing it for years and didn't even thought about the fact that it's been relatively the same all along, just acquired/partnered with something that will do their usual job independently.

People just need to learn that services that requires KYC/AML will always be informed about their crypto income and expenses that passed on it.
There are more option to buy and sell cryptos, coinbase is just one of them (just use it for "moderate" Buy or Sell).

From what I see I didn't knew about many shady things Coinbase was involved.

How is this possible that there was no buzz in media about this insider trading and other facts @Oeleo is talking about?

I am following crypto related news on daily basis and have no clue about many things. Like I said there was nothing in media.

Strange don't you think?