US-based crypto exchange Coinbase has seen a two-fold increase in customer information requests from government and law enforcement agencies over the past three years.
In a new transparency report, Coinbase says the exchange received 13,079 requests between October 1, 2022 and September 30, 2023, an increase of about 6% over the same period a year earlier.
The number also marks a 209% increase from the 4,227 requests submitted between July 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020.
According to the report, 57% of requests came from outside the US, with 19 countries, including Armenia, Cameroon, Costa Rica, Colombia, Moldova, Ivory Coast, New Caledonia, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, sending their requests for the first time.
“The ~57% of requests from outside the United States was an increase of ~6% from our previous report.
~73% of law enforcement requests came from the US, Germany, UK and Spain.”
However, the US remains the largest source of requests from law enforcement agencies and agencies with 5,686 requests, followed by Germany with 1,908.
“United States: Remained the top country with the highest number of requests in both 2022 and 2023, with a slight increase in 2023.”
The number of requests from authorities in Australia, Portugal and France also increased significantly, by more than 262%, 211% and 52% respectively.
Coinbase says it wants to strike a balance between protecting customer privacy and meeting its legal obligations.
“Every request we receive is carefully reviewed by a team of trained experts, using established procedures to determine its legal sufficiency. Where necessary, we will attempt to limit requests that are too broad or vague to provide a more appropriately tailored response, and in some cases we may object to providing any information (for example, if the request is legally insufficient).
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Generated image: Midjourney