Coinbase, the popular cryptocurrency exchange that’s compliant with all laws and regulations of the jurisdictions in which they operate, has been under fire as of late due to the controversial acquisition of Neutrino, a blockchain intelligence firm specializing in tracking data.
This Neutrino acquisition angered many due to its executives having previously sold surveillance software to governments in countries with known to violate human rights.
Since learning of these connections, the crypto community has been in a furor, which led to the trending #DeleteCoinbase hashtag running rampant over Twitter and other social media platforms.
Coinbase Reveals Client Data Was Sold to Outside Sources
In an effort to justify the controversial Neutrino acquisition, Coinbase’s director of institutional sales Christine Sandler stated Coinbase had done so in an effort to move away from their current tracking provider, which was selling client data to outside sources.
She insisted that Neutrino will keep their client’s data safe in the following statement:
“It was important for us to migrate away from our current providers… They were selling client data to outside sources and it was compelling for us to get control over that and have proprietary technology that we could leverage to keep the data safe and protect our clients.”
Adding to this, Sandler downplayed the past unsavory actions of the Neutrino executives, proclaiming that Neutrino’s technology is industry leading and best-in-class. She moreover explained that the acquisition was to bring this technology in-house to prevent third parties from selling client data.
While this statement offers further reasoning to the Neutrino acquisition, the admission of compromised private user data was enough to put the crypto community over the edge.
Coinbase requires users to provide sensitive and detailed KYC (know-your-client) identification information, and while it’s unclear as to what data was sold, many Coinbase users are highly concerned.
Will You #DeleteCoinbase?
The trending #DeleteCoinbase hashtag can be seen all over crypto Twitter, and it’s gone even more viral since Sandler revealed that private client data has already been breached.
Tuur Demeester, founding partner of Adamant Capital, took his frustration to Twitter where he questioned the actions of Coinbase.
He among others are demanding answers as to what kind of data was breached, how long Coinbase has known about this, why there hasn’t been a lawsuit, and how this is a justification for hiring unethical people.
Demeester’s tweet read:
😧 revelation from @Coinbase.
– Was customer privacy breached? (or only aggregate data)
– How long have you known?
– Did previous tracking providers break contract? (why no lawsuit yet)
– How is this an argument explaining acqui-hire of unethical people?https://t.co/KP4LVD7Yhs pic.twitter.com/JLXGh9YlW4— Tuur Demeester (@TuurDemeester) March 3, 2019
Commenting on the tweet was a slew of comments from angry Coinbase users and privacy advocates. Many prominent crypto influencers have voiced their opinions on the matter, stating that they have finally deleted their Coinbase accounts because the popular crypto exchange cannot be trusted.
Will you delete your Coinbase account? Will their acquisition of Neutrino be used to sell sensitive user data themselves? Let us know what you think in the comment section below.
