Coinbase launched its second transparency report on Wednesday, displaying that the overwhelming bulk of government curiosity in customer data final yr came from authorities centered on criminal investigations.
The transparency reviews are a comparatively new initiative from the U.S.’s main crypto alternate. They compile information on requests for data that Coinbase receives from civil companies and regulation enforcement. The first came out in October, masking H1 of 2020. With the second, Coinbase has new information from H2.
Of a complete of 4,227 such requests that Coinbase obtained final yr, solely 165 came from civil considerations. However, there was a pointy uptick between H1 and H2, from 66 to 99 requests, suggesting that civil authorities could also be rising extra curious about crypto actions.
This isn’t completely shocking, as tax authorities just like the IRS have been scrutinizing crypto exchanges extra aggressively just lately. But even in H2, criminal authorities submitted 95.7% of all requests that Coinbase obtained.
Of observe is the geographic origin of those requests. As earlier than, the United States, United Kingdom, and Germany lead the world in government curiosity in Coinbase consumer exercise. The three nations mixed account for roughly 90% of all the requests for which Coinbase accounted.
