The 5th Annual Transparency Report by Coinbase brings information about data for October 1, 2022, through September 30, 2023. The objective of sharing the report is to inform customers about requests that have been received from government agencies and law enforcement from around the world. This has been defined under the Go Broad, Go Deep strategy’s second phase.
Coinbase has noted an increase of approximately 6% in requests received year-on-year, further noting that 19 jurisdictions filed a request for the first time in 2023.
Interestingly, the US is at the top for the second consecutive year. Law enforcement and agencies received a total of 13,079 requests. Nearly 57% of the requests came from outside the US. Countries to have filed for the first time are Armenia, Cameroon, and Costa Rica, respectively.
Four countries comprised almost 73% of the total requests. These countries are Germany, the US, Spain, and the UK.
Germany reportedly filed 1,906 requests, making it the highest country other than the US. American law enforcement filed 5,686 requests with Coinbase. Asian countries like Sri Lanka and Pakistan are also on the list. There was a massive rise in requests from Australia and Portugal. This reflects an increase of 262% and 211% in the same order.
The UK is the only country holding one of the top spots despite seeing a fall in the number. Requests in 2022 were 1,744, and in the following year, it came down to 1,415.
France grew by 184, from 351 requests in 2022 to 535 requests in 2023. The maximum YoY increase has come from Ukraine in terms of country of origin. The rise is just above 300%, followed by Australia and Portugal. India ranks 7th with a slightly above 100% increase. The lowest rise has been for Poland; however, it is a decent jump of approximately 40–50%.
The majority of Coinbase’s requests (95.6%) originated from criminal law enforcement agencies. Administrative or civil agencies contributed the remaining 4.4%.
The data presented in the 5th Annual Transparency Report by Coinbase brings data from all its products and services across all the entities. A country not listed in the report could be because Coinbase does not operate there or the company did not receive any requests from its government or relevant agencies.
An information request made by relevant authorities refers to seeking necessary disclosures about a customer for several reasons, including criminal, administrative, and national security, among others. The provision of any piece of information is subject to the scope and nature of the request. It could include an IP address, payment information, and name.
Coinbase reserves the right to challenge the request and may urge the relevant government or law enforcement body to refine their request. This is again based on the nature of the request and the conditions under which the request has been made.
The publication of a transparency report underlines Coinbase’s commitment to safeguarding customers’ privacy while complying with necessary legal obligations.