Coinbase has actively been trying to stay on the right side of the law. It has continuously sought partnership and permission from regulatory bodies at different points in the past. The US SEC and Coinbase are currently in a dispute over the latter wanting to release a product. SEC has threatened that if the cryptocurrency exchange goes against its directives, they would have their day in court.
Recently, the crypto exchange has entered into a partnership with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement department of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which earned Coinbase over $1.36M dollars. With this partnership, Coinbase will issue a license to use Coinbase Analytics to the US Customs. The latter wants to study American residents’ knowledge.
By signing the deal, Coinbase will receive an initial $455,000 from Homeland Security, and additional amounts will be given to the crypto exchange during the course of three years. It is expected that the amount will reach $1.36 million.
This is not the first time that an agreement has been signed by both parties. A month ago, Coinbase offered forensic services to the department and earned $30,000 from the contract.
Coinbase’s actions have annoyed quite a number of crypto community members that feel that the exchange has continuously gone against a key principle of blockchain technology, which is privacy. Many feel that Coinbase’s recent actions may defeat the purpose of blockchain technology and reduce the trust that people have in the system.
One of those that have spoken against the recent activities of Coinbase is Alex Gladstein, Human Rights Chief Strategy Officer. He feels that Coinbase is sacrificing its reputation for a minor amount. In his tweet thread, he stated,
“Coinbase has inked their largest deal with the Feds yet, signing a $1.36M contract to provide ICE with financial surveillance software.
Why?
By and large, that’s not too much money for Coinbase. It’s strange that they risk their reputation for such a relatively small sum.”
A hashtag #deletecoinbase has started trending on popular microblogging platform Twitter, with many aggrieved parties expressing the feeling that the crypto exchange is a big sell-out to the blockchain realm.
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