Email from Coinbase asking if I'm using their services for "gambling purposes"

[Scorpion]

I transfer from coinbase to my wallet on my computer. From there I transfer to Poloniex.com which is a coin investment web site.

When I was asked what I do with my BTC I answered that I invest at Poloniex.

From Poloniex I transfer to the sportsbooks.

coinbase may ask for documentation to help support your statement

[raiders72001]

I transfer from coinbase to my wallet on my computer. From there I transfer to Poloniex.com which is a coin investment web site.

When I was asked what I do with my BTC I answered that I invest at Poloniex.

From Poloniex I transfer to the sportsbooks.

I like this one. Exchanges are a nice place to wash the coins.

[raiders72001]

I transfer from coinbase to my wallet on my computer. From there I transfer to Poloniex.com which is a coin investment web site.

When I was asked what I do with my BTC I answered that I invest at Poloniex.

From Poloniex I transfer to the sportsbooks.

Do you trade or just wash the coins? They don't charge other than the TX Fee .0001.

[YellowCurious]

The issue may be how many bitcoins are being purchased. I never purchase more than $150 worth of bitcoins. I then transfer immediately to blockchain and then immediately to 5 Dimes. I've never had a problem. I think if you are buying thousands of dollars in bitcoins quite often, that will get you flagged. Transferring immediately after purchasing the bitcoins probably has nothing to do with being flagged. I think it's the amount of bitcoins that is getting people banned.

[3runhomer]

I like this one. Exchanges are a nice place to wash the coins.

Raiders...could you explain this potential step of going through an exchange and "washing" the coins? That would be super helpful...it does sound like a good idea!

Also, someone asked earlier, and I was wondering...is there a wallet/exchange outside the US that lets you transfer your bitcoin to your checking account?

Thanks!

[BrickJames]

Raiders...could you explain this potential step of going through an exchange and "washing" the coins? That would be super helpful...it does sound like a good idea!

Also, someone asked earlier, and I was wondering...is there a wallet/exchange outside the US that lets you transfer your bitcoin to your checking account?

Thanks!

You dont need to "wash" BTC thats the whole point.

[Jliao4]

Another way to avoid suspicion is to divide your buy/sells between two different exchanges. For example only use Coinbase to buy BTC and sell BTC only on Circle. This way it's easy to formulate a plausible reason if either exchange asks you what your are doing.

For example:
Coinbase: I am buying BTC to spend locally at Coffee shops that accept BTC.
Circle: I am selling BTC a family friend gifted me.

[raiders72001]

Raiders...could you explain this potential step of going through an exchange and "washing" the coins? That would be super helpful...it does sound like a good idea!

Also, someone asked earlier, and I was wondering...is there a wallet/exchange outside the US that lets you transfer your bitcoin to your checking account?

Thanks!

When you transfer money to an exchange, the bitcoins that you transferred have your name on them. A lot of people are transferring bitcoins to the exchange without your name on it.

When the exchange sends money to a sportsbook, most likely they aren't going to use coins with your name on it.

Here's a list to research exchanges https://www.buybitcoinworldwide.com/country-index/

[pinnerpsk]

I'd reply that you choose bitcoin partly due to the privacy aspect and you are not about to compromise yours or your business partners privacy by handing over information about anyone.

They will probably close your account anyway but you don't have a lot of options left at this stage and it might be worth a try. They could be bluffing to get you to admit/confirm it still.

Thanks again. This worked.

[QuantumLeap]

coinbase may ask for documentation to help support your statement

I can provide that documentation since I have invested in coins there in the past. I don't know why they would though. If they did in the future, my suggestion would be to buy some alt coins (alternate coins like Ethereum or DigiByte) and then sell them shortly afterward. There's your documentation.

[QuantumLeap]

Do you trade or just wash the coins? They don't charge other than the TX Fee .0001.

I used to trade but haven't done much trading in the last couple months.

I will repeat here what I posted in another thread on this subject. I have Multibit which is a program that runs on my computer. I transfer my coinbase BTC to my Multibit wallet. I have created 2 more wallets in my Multibit program (each with their own BTC address). From the wallet I receive coinbase BTC, I transfer to my 2nd Multibit wallet all on my own computer. I then transfer from my 2nd Multibit wallet to Poloniex (and sometimes Bittrex, another exchange) or to sportsbooks.

If coinbase or circle wanted to, they could see that I was sending BTC from my receiving wallet to another wallet to a sportsbook but they really can't prove who owns the 2nd wallet. It could be a friend of mine or someone I'm paying BTC owed. They can't prove I'm the one transferring to sportsbooks since they don't know the identity of the person using the 2nd wallet even though it's in the same program on the same computer of the BTC wallet where I receive their BTC in.

[Grivas_Digeni]

Thanks again. This worked.

Are you saying they left you alone?

Happy Easter!

[Optional]

Thanks again. This worked.

Wow. Great news. Thanks for letting us all know.

[pinnerpsk]

Yep, they gave up and moved on to more important things

I had a message on my coinbase account about this but now it's gone and everything is fine now.

[pinnerpsk]

Scratch my last post. Got a message from them today in regards to my earlier reply--where I said I didn't want to give them info on who I transferred BC to because of privacy reasons. Sounds like the ban hammer is about to drop.


Thank you for your reply. As a FinCEN-regulated Money Service Business, we are required to perform “Know Your Customer” procedures to ensure that our customers are abiding by our User Agreement (https://www.coinbase.com/legal/user_agreement), particularly with respect to our “Prohibited Uses”.

To clarify, you are stating that you do not wish to complete our due diligence review process?


I understand they have to follow regulatory requirements but at the end of the day everyone knows a good portion of coinbase is used for gambling. What a bunch of wieners.

[Optional]

Reply;

"No, I understand your legal position and am happy to undertake any form of reasonable KYC procedure that you require.

Asking for proof of my business partners activites is not reasonable.

You may have any form of ID that you require to ensure that I am who I say I am, you already have a list of all bitcoin addresses with which I transact and I have told you what I do with them. Surely this is more than a reasonable amount of info for your purposes?"


Start every email about this saying you will undergo KYC... and end it with a question. Make sure you are never the one to put a full stop on the conversation.

At least from this response it sounds like they do not have hard proof as I described earlier.

[Ted Sheckler]

I got questioned the other day on Coinbase "before you purchase BTC can you fill out some info" Tried backing out without doing it. Forced me to, asked what I do with the BTC, just put "online purchases and trading".

Simple as that.

Ohh, then I went to purchase the BTC and they took away my instant buy. Went back over to circle to purchase.

[Triumph]

My DSI account was robbed by a fraudulent Bitcoin withdrawal last Oct., even though I had a transaction # everyone I contacted said the transaction would always be untraceable , is this idea of untraceable , carefree transactions changing?

[pinnerpsk]

3/29 Update: Banned.

Thank you for your interest in Coinbase. Our primary goal is to make bitcoin safe and secure for our customers. Coinbase is a regulated Money Services Business under FinCEN (FinCEN.gov), and as part of our responsibility, we are legally obligated to implement regulatory compliance mechanisms.
We regret to inform you that we are no longer able to support your Coinbase account as we have determined that you are no longer eligible for our services.


What a bunch of squares. The fact that a company(whose business revolves around bitcoin) wants to know detailed info on who I sent payments to is a joke.

[pinnerpsk]

Now Coinbase wants to know your social media info.

Coinbase Takes KYC To A New Level By Asking LinkedIn Information

[Ted Sheckler]

Now Coinbase wants to know your social media info.

Coinbase Takes KYC To A New Level By Asking LinkedIn Information

Well now you should use Circle and always use Blockchain as the intermediary.

[Triumph]

They forgot to ask the thief who robbed me any security questions, he is untraceable.

[pinnerpsk]

Well now you should use Circle and always use Blockchain as the intermediary.

We're you able to increase your weekly limit above $300 with Circle?

[Ted Sheckler]

We're you able to increase your weekly limit above $300 with Circle?

Nope.

I still prefer using Bookmaker with debit deposit and btc payout. But if I get a wild hair up my ass and want to use Nitrogen, I can only throw in 300 instant.

[TheMoneyShot]

Wow. This is some mega bullsh#$ about BTC and Coinbase.

I'm really deflated now.

Why can't these companies leave us the fuk alone!


I thought blockchain was the answer? How can coinbase figure out what we're doing... or where the $ is going?

Man... I just don't know. Something doesn't sound right.

[VinagreSantos]

This is getting crazy....
I was thinking this could be the perfect setting to bet from am european country with "legal limitations" on the online gambling world...
Really ???BitCoin?????????
Isis getting money, bankers doing frauds, politicians are corrupted and the problem in the world is sport betting?
Is it the next thing to start to f..k with the brokers and the people that are using them?
There are people buying guns with bitcoins and the problem is sports betting? In what world am i?This doesn´t make any sense..

[pinnerpsk]

Wow. This is some mega bullsh#$ about BTC and Coinbase.

I'm really deflated now.

Why can't these companies leave us the fuk alone!


I thought blockchain was the answer? How can coinbase figure out what we're doing... or where the $ is going?

Man... I just don't know. Something doesn't sound right.

Does anyone know the answer to this?

[raiders72001]

Does anyone know the answer to this?

Blockchain.info is a wallet similar to airbitz.

Not the wallet, but the "blockchain" is a ledger that keeps track of all transaction. If a transaction goes from Cirle/Coinbase to wallet to sportsbook, Circle/Coinbase knows that the transaction hits the sportsbook at some time by looking at the ledger (blockchain).

The wallets are anonymous. Circle/Coinbase is unsure of who owns the wallet. When you go Circle/Coinbase to wallet to sportsbook without delay, Circle/Coinbase is fairly sure that you own the wallet in the middle.

If you deposit the coins in an exchange (Poloniex, BTC-e, others), then the trail, for the most part stops at the exchange. Now you can go exchange to sportsbook.

If you look at a bitcoin as a dollar bill, if you deposit that dollar bill into an exchange, it will get mixed with a lot of other dollars in the exchange. When the dollar bill leaves that exchange, that dollar bill most likely won't be the one that you deposited at the exchange.

[3runhomer]

Blockchain.info is a wallet similar to airbitz.

Not the wallet, but the "blockchain" is a ledger that keeps track of all transaction. If a transaction goes from Cirle/Coinbase to wallet to sportsbook, Circle/Coinbase knows that the transaction hits the sportsbook at some time by looking at the ledger (blockchain).

The wallets are anonymous. Circle/Coinbase is unsure of who owns the wallet. When you go Circle/Coinbase to wallet to sportsbook without delay, Circle/Coinbase is fairly sure that you own the wallet in the middle.

If you deposit the coins in an exchange (Poloniex, BTC-e, others), then the trail, for the most part stops at the exchange. Now you can go exchange to sportsbook.

If you look at a bitcoin as a dollar bill, if you deposit that dollar bill into an exchange, it will get mixed with a lot of other dollars in the exchange. When the dollar bill leaves that exchange, that dollar bill most likely won't be the one that you deposited at the exchange.

Thanks Raiders!

Very helpful...now, what exchanges to you recommend? Do you actually need to make a quick trade? Or do you just need to send to the exchange wallet, and then continue to move the funds to their intended destination?

[TheMoneyShot]

Blockchain.info is a wallet similar to airbitz.

Not the wallet, but the "blockchain" is a ledger that keeps track of all transaction. If a transaction goes from Cirle/Coinbase to wallet to sportsbook, Circle/Coinbase knows that the transaction hits the sportsbook at some time by looking at the ledger (blockchain).

The wallets are anonymous. Circle/Coinbase is unsure of who owns the wallet. When you go Circle/Coinbase to wallet to sportsbook without delay, Circle/Coinbase is fairly sure that you own the wallet in the middle.

If you deposit the coins in an exchange (Poloniex, BTC-e, others), then the trail, for the most part stops at the exchange. Now you can go exchange to sportsbook.

If you look at a bitcoin as a dollar bill, if you deposit that dollar bill into an exchange, it will get mixed with a lot of other dollars in the exchange. When the dollar bill leaves that exchange, that dollar bill most likely won't be the one that you deposited at the exchange.

Thanks Raiders!

Very helpful...now, what exchanges to you recommend? Do you actually need to make a quick trade? Or do you just need to send to the exchange wallet, and then continue to move the funds to their intended destination?

Raiders... you drew up great "maps" for the 1st graders in the beginning of BTC...

I'm still a 1st grader here. Can you map out something so others have a high probability of bypassing this Coinbase issue?


I just have a hard time believing the "higher ups" in Coinbase are researching and tracing everything at the blockchain ledger. It's beyond tedious.

[LT Profits]

I transfer from coinbase to my wallet on my computer. From there I transfer to Poloniex.com which is a coin investment web site.

When I was asked what I do with my BTC I answered that I invest at Poloniex.

From Poloniex I transfer to the sportsbooks.

Is a wallet (i.e., Blockchain) even necessary for this? Why not go directly from coinbase to exchange (i.e., Poloniex)?

[raiders72001]

Thanks Raiders!

Very helpful...now, what exchanges to you recommend? Do you actually need to make a quick trade? Or do you just need to send to the exchange wallet, and then continue to move the funds to their intended destination?

I'll test drive the exchanges to confirm any fees and post about it later. Someone here is going Coinbase/Circle to Poloneix to sportsbook and it's working for him. No fees at Poloniex other than .0001 TX fee..

You don't have to make a quick trade. You can do it quick or let it sit at Poloniex for any amount of time.

[tb1984]

Raiders... you drew up great "maps" for the 1st graders in the beginning of BTC...

I'm still a 1st grader here. Can you map out something so others have a high probability of bypassing this Coinbase issue?


I just have a hard time believing the "higher ups" in Coinbase are researching and tracing everything at the blockchain ledger. It's beyond tedious.

1) All of your bitcoin transactions are public, anyone can see your transactions with a bitcoin explorer. And, these transactions will never go away, they exist forever on the blockchain ledger.

2) Circle and Coinbase are tech companies, they are not stupid people. They have all of your transactions, and their software can trace your transactions.

3) And, you think Coinbase or Circle are not aware of what we are doing to avoid their detection, when we talk about it freely on forum?

You can learn more about Bitcoin by just googling:

[raiders72001]

Raiders... you drew up great "maps" for the 1st graders in the beginning of BTC...

I'm still a 1st grader here. Can you map out something so others have a high probability of bypassing this Coinbase issue?


I just have a hard time believing the "higher ups" in Coinbase are researching and tracing everything at the blockchain ledger. It's beyond tedious.

Coinbase> Poloniex > Sportsbook.

This most likely isn't going to work very long. I can't see an exchange located in the US allowing it if no trades are made. I'll look at exchanges outside the US.

Coinbase is shutting down accounts. It's really not that difficult to set up a program to track transactions. Coinbase has flagged suspected gambling sites.

If the transaction is starting at Coinbase and getting to a sportsbook, inputs and outputs of transactions will tell a story.

One nice thing about going to an exchange, you can give Coinbase proof that you are transferring to an exchange. Then tell Coinbase that you are a trader.

[raiders72001]

Is a wallet (i.e., Blockchain) even necessary for this? Why not go directly from coinbase to exchange (i.e., Poloniex)?

No wallet needed. Your way works.

We had to change things up a little. I think Optional once posted this but Coinbase is changing how they go about determining if you are gambling or not. That's the case.

Once Coinbase > wallet > sportsbook was fine but that no longer seems to work in all cases. The guys doing this transfer in a short time for the same amount are definitely getting banned.