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Coinbase Report Shows Dramatic Increase in Law Enforcement Enquiries Worldwide

According to the crypto exchange, the total number of inquiries is up 66%, with the United States providing the vast majority; the United States and three European nations accounted for 80% of all queries.

Coinbase has experienced an increase in information demands from law enforcement over the last year, according to the cryptocurrency exchange’s most recent transparency report. The great majority of inquiries originated in the United States and were related to criminal investigations.

The latest transparency report from Coinbase covers the previous four quarters, concluding in September. During that period, the exchange received 12,320 information requests from law enforcement, representing a 66% increase. The United States accounted for 5,304 of the requests, or 43%. The United Kingdom, Germany, and Spain each contributed 1,000 to 2,000 requests. These four nations accounted for 80% of all requests, with 57 other countries making requests as well.

The 1,304 inquiries from Spain indicate a 940% increase. It was one of six nations whose inquiries had more than quadrupled in the previous year. During the reporting period, twenty-one nations submitted requests for the first time, including the Czech Republic, which sent 104 of them.

According to the allegation, which was credited to Coinbase’s chief legal officer Paul Grewal, Coinbase may contest or suggest that authorities restrict their demands, as determined by their legal team. “Coinbase may produce certain customer information, such as name, recent login/logout IP address, and payment information; this type of information may be subject to requests by government and law enforcement agencies when a customer uses one of our applications or our website, as described in our privacy policy,” the exchange says.

“We also seek to offer anonymized or aggregated data that assists law enforcement and government organizations in their work,” the study stated.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said in an earlier December interview that the exchange’s trading income had dropped by around half in the previous year. Coinbase has 108 million clients throughout the globe.

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