Cryptocurrency Titan Coinbase Providing 'Geo Tracking Data' To ICE

Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States, is selling Immigrations and Customs Enforcement a suite of features used to track and identify cryptocurrency users, according to contract documents shared with The Intercept. From a report: In August 2021, Coinbase sold a single analytics software license to ICE for $29,000, followed by a software purchase potentially worth $1.36 million the next month, but details of exactly what capabilities would be offered to the agency's controversial Homeland Security Investigations division of were unclear. A new contract document obtained by Jack Poulson, director of the watchdog group Tech Inquiry, and shared with The Intercept, shows ICE now has access to a variety of forensic features provided through Coinbase Tracer, the company's intelligence-gathering tool (formerly known as Coinbase Analytics).

Coinbase Tracer allows clients, in both government and the private sector, to trace transactions through the blockchain, a distributed ledger of transactions integral to cryptocurrency use. While blockchain ledgers are typically public, the enormous volume of data stored therein can make following the money from spender to recipient beyond difficult, if not impossible, without the aid of software tools. Coinbase markets Tracer for use in both corporate compliance and law enforcement investigations, touting its ability to "investigate illicit activities including money laundering and terrorist financing" and "connect [cryptocurrency] addresses to real world entities."

Crypto currency will never work at scale

[hsmith]

The issue is they are entirely user hostile to use, if you donâ(TM)t use an exchange. If you do use an exchange, it defeats the entire purpose of using crypto currencies (âoeanonymousâ). Plus, exchanges own your currencies you donâ(TM)t actually have possession (thus all the funny business to get coins out as prices fall). Cryptocurrencies can never scale because making them user friendly defeats the entire purpose.

Re:

[Kremmy]

It was always pseudonymous, not anonymous.
To be 'anonymous' you're expected to never re-use the same wallet. The moment you split your change back into the source address you're doing something wrong on that front.
It's supposed to be decentralized, but you lose that when you replace one bank for another with an exchange.
Every time things start moving again in the ecosystem, transaction fees skyrocket. That's a bigger issue than being user friendly.
You can make it as user friendly as a credit / debit car

Re:

[Thom34]

How they are hostile to use? I think that it goes quite nicely, see yourself here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com] Exchanges owning your currency that you don't actually have in possession is exactly the same thing as you have with your bank account. Seems that most don't have any problem with it.

Insurance

[clawsoon]

I guess that's one way to make yourself too important to the government to be allowed to fail.

Guess it's by IP?

[SuperKendall]

I've used CoinBase to buy crypto, the app has not ever asked for location permissions as far as I have seen - so this must be all geoIP.

Re:

[Kernel Kurtz]

I've used CoinBase to buy crypto, the app has not ever asked for location permissions as far as I have seen - so this must be all geoIP.

They don't need your permission to correlate your trading with the cell tower info they get from other contracted data sharing services.

Re:

[SuperKendall]

They don't need your permission to correlate your trading with the cell tower info

How are they getting cell tower info at all??

If you can't beat them...

[awwshit]

Crypto-voodoo money did not beat the man, so join the man?

Why is ICE handling this type of investigation?

[Virtucon]

I thought it would be a US Treasury/IRS thing for tracking assets including crypto. This seems like an overreach by DHS.

Re:

[GoTeam]

I thought it would be a US Treasury/IRS thing for tracking assets including crypto. This seems like an overreach by DHS.

The current administration is not friendly to the actual intended goals of ICE. They've been using the department for a few things that are outside their intended scope of work.

Re:

[jythie]

Well, they do handle the 'customs' stuff too.

If this crash doesn't kill crypto

[rsilvergun]

it's going to be a very, very different beast when it's done. That's because we're starting to see the winners buy out the losers, and unless those losers also go tits up then we're going to have _massive_ market consolidation. We'll have the Goldman Sach's of crypto, and then they'll probably get bought by the real Goldman Sachs.

That'll suck for anyone who works for a living, because it'll mean having a huge chunk of our economy built on top of funny money. Something that exists to do an end run around

What's the problem?

[misnohmer]

Is the issue here that people using crypto for money laundering or anonymous payments are just finding out all transactions are public? If it wasn't Coinbase tool, it would be some other company, or an open source project. At least the information is in the open now. While I get that people in crypto today are concerned that once money launderers and people wanting to hide payments lose interest in crypto, it will leave the pyramid scheme of "I will find someone who believes more than I do and will buy this

Hey, crypto fans

[LeeLynx]

Tell us all again about all those privacy advantages crypto has over cash.