Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) has shared its fifth annual Transparency Report.
Coinbase says that its goal with the Transparency Report is “to provide customers with data about requests for their information that we receive from government agencies and law enforcement.”
Coinbase also intends to “provide some insight into law enforcement and regulatory trends around the world.” This report covers the period “from October 1, 2022 through September 30, 2023.”
As momentum for crypto builds globally and Coinbase executes on Phase II of our “Go Broad, Go Deep” strategy for international expansion, they claim to “increasingly see more requests coming from jurisdictions across the world. Although these requests have increased by ~ 6% y-on-y, we saw requests from 19 new jurisdictions in this reporting period.”
With 245,000 ecosystem partners in over 100 countries, Coinbase has “grown its products and services globally, including in the areas of derivatives and layer 2 solutions.”
They have obtained new licenses “that enable us to access new markets and deliver new products.”
As they expand in scale and breadth, they continue “to regularly receive and respond to requests from government agencies and law enforcement in connection with civil, criminal, or other investigative matters.”
These requests “include subpoenas, court orders, search warrants, and other formal legal processes.” Their obligation is to respond “to these requests if they are valid under financial regulations and other applicable laws.”
This transparency report “underscores a critical balance: the safeguarding of our customers’ privacy while complying with our obligations under the law.”
Coinbase understands that privacy is “a cornerstone of the economic freedom and security that our customers entrust us with. It is with this understanding that they implement rigorous privacy practices, ensuring that our customer information is consistently treated with care and confidentiality.”
They believe transparency is the foundation of trust. By openly sharing the information in this report, we reaffirm their commitment “to earning and maintaining the trust of their customers, partners, and the communities we serve.”
Each request they receive is carefully “reviewed by a team of trained experts using established procedures to determine its legal sufficiency.”
Key Takeaways:
- There were a total of 13,079 requests during the reporting period, a ~6% increase over last year’s report.
- The ~57% of requests from outside of the United States was a ~6% increase over our previous report. In addition, 19 Countries sent requests for the first time in 2023, including: Armenia (11), Cameroon (8), Costa Rica (6), Colombia (3), Moldova (3), Côte d’Ivoire (2), New Caledonia (2), Pakistan (2), Sri Lanka (2).
- ~73% of law enforcement requests were from the U.S., Germany, U.K. and Spain.
- United States: Remained the top country with the highest number of requests in both 2022 and 2023, with a slight increase in 2023.
- Requests from Australia (+262%) and Portugal (+211%) grew very substantially in the reporting period .
- UK: Although it had a decrease in requests (from 1,744 in 2022 to 1,415 in 2023), it remains among the top requesting countries.
- Australia: Notable increase in requests, going from 125 in 2022 to 453 in 2023.
- France: Saw a significant rise in requests from 351 in 2022 to 535 in 2023.
As in years past, the overwhelming majority of requests they “received both globally and in the U.S. were from law enforcement agencies in connection with criminal enforcement matters.”
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