Coinbase received about 2,000 government requests in six months

The largest American bitcoin exchange Coinbase published its first transparency report. It notes that in the first half of 2020 the company received 1,914 government information requests.

As part of our commitment to being the most trusted venue to interact with cryptocurrency, we are releasing our first Transparency Report. The report summarizes government requests that we received for customer account info during the first half of 2020. https://t.co/GCjueNlzZy

— Coinbase (@coinbase) October 16, 2020

Around 90% of requests came from three jurisdictions — the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany.

Source: Coinbase blog.

American government agencies submitted 1,113 requests, 60% of the total. Of these:

• FBI — 340;
• National Security Agency — 184;
• local authorities and the Drug Enforcement Administration — 180 and 104 respectively.

Source: Coinbase blog.

Coinbase also said that it regularly receives subpoenas from law enforcement agencies.

“These requests largely come in the form of subpoenas. They may also include warrants, court orders and other formal procedures,” said the company representatives.

Coinbase emphasised that it would continue to publish such reports in the future, but did not specify how frequently they would be released.

In September, a San Francisco-based digital rights advocacy group (EFF) urged Coinbase to publish transparency reports.

The company should disclose how many government information requests it receives and how it handles them.

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