Coinbase Denies Reports Selling User Data to the US Government

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The largest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange has been forced to respond to rumors that it is leakingfor money user data to an agency under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Coinbase tweeted a denial: the company does not sell customer information to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).The reports spread on Thursday, June 30, and users lashed out at the crypto exchange.

Selling data without users' knowledge is an invasion of privacy.They will owe me $10 million," one of the site's clients said.

Coinbase assured that the top priority is to ensure that the platform operates safely and securely.The exchange's tools, such as Coinbase Tracer, are built to comply with government requirements and are used to investigate financial crimes rather than spy on users.According to the exchange, the information that the government receives from customers is collected only from publicly available sources, and not from internal databases. 

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In September last year, Coinbase signed a $1.36 million contract with ICE to develop software for government agencies.Recently, analysts at investment bank Goldman Sach downgraded Coinbase from "neutral" to "sell" as the exchange's shares have fallen 75% over the past year.