Coinbase and its troubling history of customer account closures

exchanges

Coinbase is hailed as an example of the cryptocurrency industry, amplified by its utterance by the CEO and each of its currency has been over-analyzed. Praised for having introduced millions of people in cryptocurrency, Coinbase is considered a net asset for cryptographic space. But there is a less salty side in the San Francisco stock exchange that sees prominent customers have their accounts frozen without warning.

Read also: 4 Cryptocurrency hotspots that have seen tremendous growth in 2018

The love-hate relationship of the Crypto community with Coinbase

<img class = "alignright size-medium wp-image-238097″ title=”Coinbase and its troubling history of customer account closures” src=”https://news.bitcoin.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/coinbase-logo1-696×223-1-300×96.png” alt=”Coinbase and its troubling history of customer account closures "width =" 300 "height =" 96 "srcset =" https://news.bitcoin.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/coinbase- logo1-696×223-1 -300×96.png 300w, https://news.bitcoin.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/coinbase-logo1-696×223-1.png 696w "sizes =" (maximum width: 300px ) 100vw, 300px”/>With revenue of 2018 expected to be over $ 1 billion and a series of high-profile acquisitions to its name, Coinbase is a true success story. It is for cryptocurrency what Apple is for phones or Google to look for. The exchange, which generated $ 923 million in revenue in 2017 and $ 380 million in profits, did more to advance cryptocurrency than any other and has no shortage of cheerleaders. Obviously it is impossible to reach the level that the California-based company has without ruffling some feathers, and Coinbase certainly has its share of dissidents.

The complaints that the cryptic community has pushed against the Coinbase range from favoring Ethereum compared to Bitcoin to be too welcoming to regulators. One accusation in particular has caused consternation among users of cryptocurrency, to which resistance to censorship is a mantra and not just a meme. It is assumed that Coinbase is more proactive than any other major exchange in freezing customer accounts – even when there is no evidence that individuals did something wrong. A number of high profile victims of the process of suspending the Coinbase account has increased awareness of this trend.

The case against Coinbase

<img class = "alignright wp-image-94159″ title=”Coinbase and its troubling history of customer account closures” src=”https://news.bitcoin.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/julian-assange-300×169.jpg” alt=”Coinbase and its disturbing history of customer account closures "width =" 256 "height =" 144 "srcset =" https://news.bitcoin.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/julian- assange-300×169.jpg 300w, https://news.bitcoin.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/julian-assange-768×432.jpg 768w, https://news.bitcoin.com/wp-content/ uploads / 2017/12 /julian-assange-696×392.jpg 696w, https://news.bitcoin.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/julian-assange-747×420.jpg 747w, https: // news. bitcoin.com/wp -content / uploads / 2017/12 / julian-assange.jpg 960w "sizes =" (maximum width: 256px) 100vw, 256px”/>The list of public figures for which Coinbase accounts have been suspended is not broad. However, there is sufficient evidence to suggest that, at the very least, the exchange could be overzealous in monitoring its platform, perhaps in an attempt to appease the legislators and legislators with which it is at the forefront. In April 2018, the exchange suspended the WikiLeaks account on alleged violations of its terms of service. In response, Wikileaks called for a "global block of Coinbase" because it was "an unsuitable member of the crypto community".

There is a particular irony in the suspension of Wikileaks since the adoption of the bitcoin by the whistleblock site in response to the blockade of Visa and Mastercard was crucial to highlight the nascent cryptocurrency in 2010. At that time Satoshi notoriously noticed "Wikileaks has kicked the hornet nesting, and the swarm is heading towards us" before going on the dark days after. His online presence has never been seen since. Nine months later Coinbase suspends Wikileaks and the exchange is back in the news, this time to suspend Gab.

As expected: the ascent and descent ramps (exchanges) will start to censure not only companies, but also individuals. @coinbase has now banned the commercial account of Gab and the personal account of Andrew Torba.

The decentralized exchanges are the future. pic.twitter.com/LXkjblrdgu

– Gab.com (@getongab) January 4, 2019

Free word network Gab.com has the dubious honor of being frozen by Coinbase for the second time in a few months. Gab's pro-bitcoin position has increased considerably since the fiat payment processors cut off the service to the social network. The decision of Coinbase to freeze the accounts of Gab and CEO Andrew Torba, described Jordan Peterson as "an unpopular move in the crypto community" has not dampened Gab's bitcoin enthusiasm. However, it has shown that even in the cryptocurrency arena, censorship is still possible.

Coinbase is not the only guilty party

Coinbase is by no means the only main platform with a weakness for freezing customer accounts. Exchanges such as Binance and Bittrex have faced similar criticism for reasons including the maintenance of US sanctions against Iran and the suspension of illegalnet-related activities in the darknet market. Bitcoin payments processor Bitpay has also suspended Gab, among other customers, and has been strongly reprimanded by members of the crypto community for doing so.

Exchanges are allowed to maintain or suspend the accounts of one of their famous or non-famous clients. This is their prerogative, just as Twitter decides who can use its platform. Once a platform develops a reputation for censorship, however, it moves away part of the cryptocurrency community and sends a warning to prospective customers who are taking additional risks in registration. The Ross free The campaign had suspended its account briefly from Coinbase in 2017, and while the issue was finally caught with the work of an "automated security function", it obtained titles as Ross Ulbricht's attorney, Kathryn Haun, was on the board of administration of Coinbase.

In that particular case, there seems to have been nothing unpleasant in the suspension of the passenger account. Given the need for US offices to put pressure on and work with US regulators, concerns remain that preventive closure of accounts will become a brand of prudent traders who fear they fall foul of the law and that legislators have spent so much time and money to align. As Gab.com has learned, the only way to prevent such incidents is through the self-custody of cryptocurrency and the self-hosting of servers to process payments using companies opposed to censorship like Btcpay.

Do you think that Coinbase is excessively willing to suspend client accounts or is simply doing its duty to enforce their terms of service? Let us know in the comments section below.

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