Coinbase monitors your account to see if you use bitcoin to buy illegal drugs

Wtf, isn't the point of bitcoin to not have the government involved?

 

This is the email I got from circle. Its got me worried. They sent me this after dealing with astro and now astro has gone missing. I believe he has been

We have noticed that a payment was made from your Circle account that appears to be in violation of Circle’s User Agreement, Sections 16 and 17 (Restricted Activities). As a result, your Circle account has been suspended.


I looked up what section 16 and 17 are. Check out section 17 # 3


16. Restricted Activities
In connection with your use of Services, you hereby agree that you will not:

• violate (or assist any other party in violating) any applicable law, statute, ordinance, or regulation;
• intentionally try to defraud (or assist in the defrauding of) Circle or other Circle users;
• provide false, inaccurate, or misleading information;
• take any action that interferes with, intercepts, or expropriates any system, data, or information;
• partake in any transaction involving the proceeds of illegal activity;
• transmit or upload any virus, worm, or other malicious software or program;
• attempt to gain unauthorized access to other Circle accounts, the Circle website, or any related networks or systems;
• use the Services on behalf of any third party or otherwise act as an intermediary between Circle and any third parties;
• collect any user information from other Circle users, including, without limitation, email addresses; or
• defame, harass, or violate the privacy or intellectual property rights of Circle or any other Circle users.

17. Restricted Activities
Using the Services to make the following types of payments is prohibited, and Circle reserves the right to monitor for payments that relate to:

• any Restricted Persons or persons or entities located in Restricted Territories (as each term is defined in Section 29);
• weapons of any kind, including but not limited to firearms, ammunition, knives, or related accessories;
• controlled substances including but not limited to narcotics, prescription drugs, steroids, or related paraphernalia or accessories;
• gambling activities including but not limited to sports betting, casino games, horse racing, dog racing, lotteries, games of chance, sweepstakes, games of skill that may be classified as gambling (i.e. poker), or other activities that facilitate any of the foregoing;
• constitute money-laundering or terrorist financing;
• any sort of ponzi scheme, pyramid scheme, or multi-level marketing program;
• goods or services that infringe or violate any copyright, trademark, or proprietary rights under the laws of any jurisdiction otherwise constitute counterfeit goods;
• debt settlement, refinance, or credit repair services;
• court ordered payments, structured settlements, tax payments, or tax settlements;
• the sale of money orders or cashier’s checks or any unlicensed money transmitter activity;
• lottery contracts, layaway systems, or annuities;
• counterfeit goods; or
• any other matters which we communicate to you that are unacceptable from time to time and which, for example, may be restricted by our and your payment partners.

In the event that Circle learns that you are making any such prohibited payments, Circle may suspend or terminate your Circle Account.

 

"Coinbase is a regulated Money Service Business under the FinCEN division of the U.S. Treasury Department"
Wow....didn't know that. I do know what FinCen is though.

 

So there you go @OdieM. it's getting harder and harder to be able to transfer money to pay sources using payment services such as Coinbase. What about going cash in mail route at the worst it will take longer but at least cash is not traceable.

Seems pretty intrusive for a payment services company to do the work of the government IMO

 

Yep I have learned my lesson. I had no clue what I was doing with BTC. I just used greendot though and that is the way to go in my opinion.

 

I believe You have to transfer them to a dark wallet that is not associated with your personal info.

 

Definitely as with services like Coinbase they are required to obtain valid customer information and then verify said info before they open the account. This is a requirement of US law. Where is Coinbase based anyway? If they are in the US then US law governs.

As for "dark wallets" where can you find such services?

 

Dont you just love big brother Odie ? Makes me feel safer (violated)....

 

I believe pumpingiron22 has a thread regarding bitcoin use

 

Theres NO Bitcoin usage for this guy.....

 

https://thinksteroids.com/community/threads/how-to-bitcoin-videos.134359924/#post-1140209

I think the anonymity is up to end user to make sure. Not safe if you don't know how to but these videos a good start

 

So people who want to use bitcoin need to know how to keep their identity (and their bitcoin) secure. There should be a write up as well for those who need a sort of a checklist and recommended bitcoin servicers.

 

what do they do with any balance in any account they close?

 

Depends on the servicer but most will ask you to move your bitcoin to another servicer, or otherwise convert it to currency then send it to your bank account minus any fees. Check the TOS of the servicer how they handle it.

 

Moneypak and Greendot do the EXACT same thing. They review acct's looking for "suspicious activity" and they "freeze" your acct. There is no discussion giving you the opportunity to explain. Used to be back in 2005-2008 when attempting to pull cash loaded onto a greendot card at an atm a msg flashed on the atm screen saying "No cash for you, contact your financial institution" You would call and were scolded by a mp or gd employee. They would tell you that you were bad and they didn't want to and would not do biz with you any longer.
You would have to wait 90 days for a check to be cut with the balance of yer acct on it to be sent to you.
Same thing today except its automated and the freeze and unfreeze yer acct after a recording tells u that you are bad and you couldn't make a new acct and that the particular acct was frozen. At leasr u don't have to wait 90 days,
Paypal does the same thing. Freeeze your acct and don't allow you access to it for 6months. I've got a little $400 tied up and we're going into the 4th month. Some guys have thousands of doillars tied up and are having BIG $$ problems. PAYPAL is like GOD. They do as they like.
There are forums out there that walk you through setting up anonymous pp acct's, Has to do with what cards and acct'd are tied to the paypal acct. The gov't is in all of it.

 

The reason I like greendot is because I walked into a CVS bought the card. ( with no I'd required ) Then I loaded it with the amount that I need to make my purchase. After I made the transaction I threw the card away. I have done this twice now. Very easy and non-traceable. I see what your saying though but I don't put more then I need on it and then I throw it away

 

Just be careful with GD as they DO also monitor much like Coinbase and MP do, even with the temp cards. If they catch you abusing the temp cards they'll lock it and good luck getting the funds back

GD limits how much cash you can withdraw so if you take cash out too many times they'll lock the card.