There are plenty of Ethereum and altcoin projects that get funded, but that’s about it. Speaking of supporting values, Coinbase’s Ventures program doesn’t finance any Bitcoin development projects. It also speaks volumes about their lack of support for the values of Bitcoin. This says a lot about Coinbase’s integrity and fairness in relation to regular users. Yet almost three years later, we still don’t know what happened. CEO Brian Armstrong has promised to conduct an investigation on the matter. The transactions that took place have raised suspicions of insider trading.Īfter the listing has taken BCH to its all time high, a massive dump followed. The exchange added Bitcoin Cash in December 2017 and started a storm. Coinbase didn’t lead by example, but follow the market pressure.Īnd Coinbase never gave up on the idea of big block Bitcoin. Then they added it half a year after the UASF movement started. In contrast, Coinbase didn’t consider supporting the SegWit soft fork until mid-December 2017. It’s against the principles of Bitcoin, but seemingly-ideal to make more fiat. Being a top backer of a project with clear leaders would have given them an edge. If any of them succeeded, the company would have gained more control over the Bitcoin network. And in 2017, Coinbase was one of the last companies to drop support for SegWit2X.Ĭoinbase has supported every major hard fork initiative. During the scaling debate, he also showed support for Classic and Unlimited. As early as 2015, CEO Brian Armstrong has pushed for the adoption of big block hard forks.Īt first, Armstrong praised BIP 101 and Bitcoin XT. But somewhere along the way, it became political and tried undermine Bitcoin’s decentralization. Deleting your Coinbase Account for Ideological ReasonsĬoinbase has made its first billion dollars only by selling bitcoins. These are two practical reasons why you should delete your Coinbase account. And no other exchange has been so scrutinized for attacking Bitcoin.
Pretty much every exchange charges lower fees than Coinbase. And if you want the lowest fees, you should pick Binance (though their security record is not as great). Likewise, Coinmama’s fees will help you buy more coins with the same budget. Kraken (which has an equally-immaculate record) charges a lot less. Then there’s the argument of fees: Coinbase has some of the highest fees in the space. And while other exchanges have chosen to be more reasonable, Coinbase is draconian.
This gives them a lot of power as a custodian. Every Bitcoin transaction gets recorded on the public blockchain. With Coinbase it’s a lot more delicate, as they’re dealing with open-ledger assets. And when you withdraw it, you can do anything with it. When you make a cash deposit, they don’t always have to know where the money comes from. And they can’t trace the money you send and receive like Coinbase does because fiat is more fungible. Would you keep on using their services if they restricted your economic freedom? What you do with your hard-earned money is none of their business. Now imagine the same scenario with your bank. They can tell their customers where they can’t send coins, so those who rely on their services are never free. The exchange wants to know everything about the cryptocurrencies whose sale they intermediate.Īnd this is dangerous because Coinbase is able to censor certain addresses. And when somebody withdraws coins from Coinbase, the surveillance system still tracks them. When a transaction gets sent to someone’s Coinbase wallet, the origin gets analyzed. In practice, this means that Coinbase is an enemy of Bitcoin’s privacy and fungibility. But it’s also responsible for hiring former Hacking Team employees for blockchain analysis. Yes, Coinbase is pretty safe and has a good record as a custodian. You need to buy a hardware wallet like a Ledger or Trezor to store them yourself.ĭeleting Your Coinbase Account for Practical Reasonsįirst of all, the exchange aims to be a financial panopticon. QUICK TIP: The best place to store coins after you buy is not on an exchange. And by the time you finish reading, you should start the deletion process.
Throughout this article, the two dimensions will receive clear and well-cited explanations. And their reasons to delete their accounts are both practical and ideological. Over the years, bitcoiners have fallen out of love with Coinbase. Read on to learn everything you need to know about why you should Delete Coinbase. The Ways Coinbase is a Danger to Bitcoin.The Ways Coinbase is a Danger to Your Privacy.