The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE), reached an agreement with Coinbase, one of the main exchanges for bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies based in that country, to obtain its software from monitoring, at the beginning of August.
Although none of the parties clarified how the technological tool would be used, it could be interpreted that the United States wants to keep an eye on visitors who have in its possession cryptocurrencies .
However, the agency did explain that “minimal information will be publicly provided” because it is a confidential information law.
In a short document, the US agency explains that it intends to grant a purchase order for Coinbase’s computer forensic services .
Computer forensics collects and analyzes data from computer systems so that they are admissible as evidence before a court of law .
ICE considers that the exchange is “the only provider that can reasonably provide the services required by the agency”, The text says.
They also detailed that the software was acquired for USD 29,000 and they estimate that it will be launched within a year.
Coinbase – A partner of the US Government
This is not the first time that the house of Cambio, founded in 2012, links its services with agencies in the United States.
In June 2020, CriptoNoticias reported that Coinbase made its Coinbase Analytics services available to the United States Anti-Drug Agency (DEA) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
According to the IRS, the use of Coinbase technology has the ability to improve “public order techniques”, in view of the growth in the use of other cryptocurrencies nedas, apart from bitcoin, by criminals to carry out their crimes.
Coinbase’s rapprochement with regulators brought consequences
Following the exchange house’s rapprochement with the DEA and IRS in 2020, platform users withdrew an unusual amount of bitcoin, which momentarily affected the daily balance in BTC in relation to the deposits made in the exchange.
Even the non-governmental organization focused on protecting civil liberties in States United, Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), pointed out in September 2020 that the bitcoin exchange is not transparent enough with the use of its customers’ data.
At the time, the EFF asked Coinbase to submit reports of transparency that allow knowing c How it handles the private data of its users.
The idea was to have information “about how many government requests for information it receives and how it treats them.”
Coinbase is one of the main exchanges of the cryptocurrency ecosystem. The company currently handles a daily volume of USD 4 billion with 92 coins, according to CoinGecko.
