In an era where it feels like our personal information is stolen on a daily basis, folks are (understandably) a little hesitant to give up too much information.
And while Coinbase has had a couple of problems with major hacks in the past, they’ve done a great job at locking down and securing their platform – making it safe to give Coinbase your ID. If you don’t provide them with a copy of your ID you won’t be able to use their platform to trade cryptocurrencies at all.
Now, this doesn’t mean that you should just indiscriminately provide any information to platforms.
Below we run through what you need to know about providing Coinbase your ID and why they want this information.
Is It Safe to Give Coinbase Your ID?
As we highlighted a moment ago, Coinbase has had a couple of issues with getting hacked in the past.
While a few thousand users had their account information hijacked by hackers during these attacks in the past, Coinbase reports that cryptocurrency was the only thing stolen. On top of that the cryptocurrency was reimbursed.
The bottom line is people didn’t lose their personal and private information, their banking information, or critical details like digital copies of their ID.
On top of that, these hacks forced Coinbase to undergo serious security audits. They inspected their system from top to bottom, implemented new security features and protocols, and rolled out very robust two factor authentication to help better protect their user base.
All of this has resulted in a much safer and much more secure Coinbase platform. This played a big part of the growth this platform has enjoyed over the last few years.
Is it safe to give Coinbase your ID now?
You bet it is.
It’s safer today than ever before (and major investments in security by Coinbase will make it even safer in the years to come).
Why Does Coinbase Want My ID?
Of course, the natural question after wondering whether or not it’s safe to give Coinbase your ID is why they would need this information in the first place.
Well, judging by comments from other people behind Coinbase they would love nothing more than to not need your ID and to instead allow you to trade crypto 100% on anonymously without restriction.
Unfortunately, though, there are a lot of laws, rules, and regulations that govern how these kinds of enterprises need to operate if they are going to be considered fully legal. “Know Your Customer” regulations in specific are a big part of why Coinbase asks for your ID to begin with.
Nations around the world (everywhere that Coinbase legally operates, in fact) require these KY regulations – requiring Coinbase to not just get digital ID information about their users, but to retain those records on a permanent basis as well.
These records are used to help combat money laundering and other financial crimes that can take advantage of the lightning fast nature of cryptocurrency.
It would be nice to be able to use Coinbase anonymously but that’s just not in the cards right now.
Is Coinbase Legit?
Coinbase didn’t grow to become one of (if not THE) largest cryptocurrency exchange and wallet platform by being a fly-by-night or less than legitimate operation.
Coinbase is very much the real deal, licensed and regulated by multiple governing bodies around the world – including major governing organizations in the United States and the European Union.
As of April 2021 Coinbase was brought public and is now traded on the NASDAQ exchange – meaning it not only has to adhere to KY’s regulations, but it also has to meet FINRA and SEC regulations as well.
It’s tough to imagine an exchange getting more legit than this.
Coinbase is built for the long haul and they have definitely outlined ambitious goals that make them the dominant crypto exchange not just for the mere future, but for years and years to come as well.
What Happens If I Don’t Give Coinbase My ID?
Of course, no one is going to twist your arm and compel you to give Coinbase a copy of your ID if you don’t want to.
You can still create a Coinbase account without confirming your identity and without providing a digital copy of your license or your passport.
At the same time, you should understand that your account is going to be significantly limited in what you’re able to do and how you’re able to use Coinbase until you go through the account verification process.
For example, you flat out won’t have access to any of the trading or exchange tools provided by Coinbase until you have gone through ID verification.
If all you want to do is park your crypto on Coinbase, never trading it – never buying anymore, either – then maybe this is something you’re willing to deal with.
At the same time, though, if all you need is a crypto wallet there are a ton of other options out there that won’t require you to confirm your ID. Options with far more features than Coinbase provides, too.
No, if you want to make use of the Coinbase market and capitalize on all the other benefits this platform brings to the table you’re going to need to go through the ID verification process.
Closing Thoughts
When all is said and done there’s really not much to be nervous about when it comes to giving Coinbase your ID.
As we have made mention of a couple of times already, Coinbase is as legitimate and operation in the crypto world as it gets.
Publicly Traded
On top of that, as a publicly traded company any hack for breach of security that could compromise your ID information would likely tank the value of this company’s stock.
You had better believe they are doing everything they can every single day to make sure that doesn’t happen.
Did you find this blog post helpful? if you did share it on social media. Also consider sharing with friends and family.
Take a look at our other most recent blog posts below: