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Coinbase CEO here. I think this boils down to a misunderstanding about what our product is. There are some companies which operate purely in the digital curren

Coinbase CEO here. I think this boils down to a misunderstanding about what our product is. There are some companies which operate purely in the digital currency world, and never store people's money. They are not regulated businesses. I'm glad these exist (and it sounds like this is what you are looking for) but this is not Coinbase. Coinbase is an exchange that integrates with the traditional financial system to help people convert their local currency into and out of digital currency. I wrote a post about this here which may help: https://medium.com/the-coinbase-blog/coinbase-is-not-a-wallet-b5b9293ca0e7#.obvdyhi2b https://medium.com/the-coinbase-blog/coinbase-is-not-a-walle... When you say Coinbase tarnishes what Bitcoin stands for, I have to disagree. We are enabling millions of people to get access to digital currency so that it can succeed. We do this successfully by playing by the rules in the existing ecosystem. You may not like these rules, but if you want millions of people to have easy access to digital currency (so that a new economy can develop etc) we are the greatest ally you have on that mission. One company can't play both roles, of integrating with the existing financial ecosystem, and creating the brave new world that you want to see. That role probably needs to be filled by separate companies. We are much closer to Stripe and other businesses which don't allow adult businesses either. https://stripe.com/blog/why-some-businesses-arent-allowed https://stripe.com/blog/why-some-businesses-arent-allowed Further reading: https://medium.com/the-coinbase-blog/building-the-bridge-why-compliance-is-key-to-digital-currencys-success-7bfdd88a084c#.la2sbe32x https://medium.com/the-coinbase-blog/building-the-bridge-why...

CyberDildonics 10y ago
I've had and heard somewhat similar experiences as the person you are replying to. Buying? No problem. Selling? An error, but only once you go the actual page to do it. No notification on the main accounts pages and no information with the error. Just something like 'there is a problem please contact support' (which of course means waiting a couple of business days). If I want terrible, uninformed, opaque service only when it is convenient for the other party, I can already get that at every bank I've ever dealt with. You could be better than that, but it is hard to believe that that is what you are trying to do. From your link: "As a result, the decision to support a business is not solely up to Stripe; it involves the various financial companies in the credit card processing chain. Their restrictions tend to be broad and, as a result, often pretty confusing." You don't deal with visa/mastercard payment network companies do you? If not, how can you have the same rationalizations as Stripe? And of course if you share the same problems as credit card companies (of which there are SO many), what problems are you solving?
- barmstrong 10y ago
  https://medium.com/the-coinbase-blog/building-the-bridge-why-compliance-is-key-to-digital-currencys-success-7bfdd88a084c#.ygokjyv0q https://medium.com/the-coinbase-blog/building-the-bridge-why... We do deal with visa/mastercard networks. They have rules, as do other financial institutions we work with.
largehotcoffee 10y ago
>playing by the rules in the existing ecosystem Are you implying that by supporting my business you would not be playing by the rules? If that's what you're saying, you don't seem to be fully aware of the rules. That, or you have a fundamental misunderstanding of the financial ecosystem or somehow believe that a company selling mature content is not "playing by the rules". My business has a physical store, existing relationships with banks, existing relationships with credit card companies, approval to sell adult comics on Amazon, and even approval to sell with PayPal (yes, they know we sell adult comics). When our customers requested we accept Bitcoin we turned to Coinbase, and you banned our account without providing a reason. It's ironic, given their history, that PayPal is more accepting of merchants like myself than your company. This is why I chose to speak up. You may be an ally to the big banks, but you are not an ally to small businesses or consumers.
- barmstrong 10y ago
  There are many banks with many rules out there. Paypal may be in a different negotiating position than we are. Believe me, I'd love to support all legal businesses (including yours). Sorry we couldn't get there yet - we may be able to eventually.
  - largehotcoffee 10y ago
    That was a good response! I hope you get there too.
MichaelBurge 10y ago
I notice that BitPay - a Coinbase competitor - seems to be able to interact with the US banking system, accepts Bitcoin, and allows adult content(they made a deal with Verotel, for example). Is it just that payment processing is an easier problem than storing money and acting as an exchange? So perhaps Coinbase's larger scope comes with more restrictions?
tluyben2 10y ago
I know your pain, but that said; you don't have to be 'another Paypal' by being a bastard about things; fast response and explaining why you do the things you do instead of just closing an account and saying 'rules blah' when being publicly (on HN) (and yes, I am aware of the scheme rules, hence I know your pain, but explaining yourself will keep people happy, hiding behind banking & scheme rules with unhelpful canned responses does not) outed for what you did is not acceptable in this day and age. Paypal is hated by many for this behavior, as is Google. Why do you want to join those ranks instead of explaining things like you did here?
ActsJuvenile 10y ago
Your verification system is completely broken Brian. All my attempts to verify for past two years give "Unknown error". Any attempt to upload a new ID goes back to main screen. I am exhausted from waiting for a reply from your helpdesk: they just send the same canned reply, when this might be a code bug in your verification workflow. On a side note, you have raised 100mm+ from VC. How do you ever hope to deliver these VCs a profit? Is Coinbase going to be a write down for these VC funds?

CyberDildonics 10y ago

I've had and heard somewhat similar experiences as the person you are replying to. Buying? No problem. Selling? An error, but only once you go the actual page to do it. No notification on the main accounts pages and no information with the error. Just something like 'there is a problem please contact support' (which of course means waiting a couple of business days). If I want terrible, uninformed, opaque service only when it is convenient for the other party, I can already get that at every bank I've ever dealt with. You could be better than that, but it is hard to believe that that is what you are trying to do. From your link: "As a result, the decision to support a business is not solely up to Stripe; it involves the various financial companies in the credit card processing chain. Their restrictions tend to be broad and, as a result, often pretty confusing." You don't deal with visa/mastercard payment network companies do you? If not, how can you have the same rationalizations as Stripe? And of course if you share the same problems as credit card companies (of which there are SO many), what problems are you solving?

barmstrong 10y ago
https://medium.com/the-coinbase-blog/building-the-bridge-why-compliance-is-key-to-digital-currencys-success-7bfdd88a084c#.ygokjyv0q https://medium.com/the-coinbase-blog/building-the-bridge-why... We do deal with visa/mastercard networks. They have rules, as do other financial institutions we work with.

largehotcoffee 10y ago

>playing by the rules in the existing ecosystem Are you implying that by supporting my business you would not be playing by the rules? If that's what you're saying, you don't seem to be fully aware of the rules. That, or you have a fundamental misunderstanding of the financial ecosystem or somehow believe that a company selling mature content is not "playing by the rules". My business has a physical store, existing relationships with banks, existing relationships with credit card companies, approval to sell adult comics on Amazon, and even approval to sell with PayPal (yes, they know we sell adult comics). When our customers requested we accept Bitcoin we turned to Coinbase, and you banned our account without providing a reason. It's ironic, given their history, that PayPal is more accepting of merchants like myself than your company. This is why I chose to speak up. You may be an ally to the big banks, but you are not an ally to small businesses or consumers.

barmstrong 10y ago
There are many banks with many rules out there. Paypal may be in a different negotiating position than we are. Believe me, I'd love to support all legal businesses (including yours). Sorry we couldn't get there yet - we may be able to eventually.
- largehotcoffee 10y ago
  That was a good response! I hope you get there too.

MichaelBurge 10y ago

I notice that BitPay - a Coinbase competitor - seems to be able to interact with the US banking system, accepts Bitcoin, and allows adult content(they made a deal with Verotel, for example). Is it just that payment processing is an easier problem than storing money and acting as an exchange? So perhaps Coinbase's larger scope comes with more restrictions?

tluyben2 10y ago

I know your pain, but that said; you don't have to be 'another Paypal' by being a bastard about things; fast response and explaining why you do the things you do instead of just closing an account and saying 'rules blah' when being publicly (on HN) (and yes, I am aware of the scheme rules, hence I know your pain, but explaining yourself will keep people happy, hiding behind banking & scheme rules with unhelpful canned responses does not) outed for what you did is not acceptable in this day and age. Paypal is hated by many for this behavior, as is Google. Why do you want to join those ranks instead of explaining things like you did here?

ActsJuvenile 10y ago

Your verification system is completely broken Brian. All my attempts to verify for past two years give "Unknown error". Any attempt to upload a new ID goes back to main screen. I am exhausted from waiting for a reply from your helpdesk: they just send the same canned reply, when this might be a code bug in your verification workflow. On a side note, you have raised 100mm+ from VC. How do you ever hope to deliver these VCs a profit? Is Coinbase going to be a write down for these VC funds?