Original author: Fairy, ChainCatcher
Original editor: TB, ChainCatcher
In the moat built by regulatory advantages, Coinbase is a golden signboard in the field of compliance. But without the halo of compliance, its noble indifference is becoming more and more dangerous.
Community feedback was ignored, customer service was slow to respond, and fees were high. These problems have left more and more users disappointed and dissatisfied. One question is becoming increasingly acute: Without the compliance bonus, what is left for Coinbase?
Where have the individual users gone?
According to CryptoQuant data, Coinbases individual investor dominance index is only 18.3%, far lower than Binances 89.6% and Bitgets 50.1%. This index reflects the activity and influence of individual investors in the exchange relative to institutional investors. The higher the value, the greater the proportion of individual investors in the user group.
Behind this data, it is revealed that Coinbase has long focused on compliance and institutionalization, and it also shows that it is gradually drifting away from ordinary users, and the platforms appeal and stickiness to the mass market are declining. This has also been widely reflected in the community. Whether in the Chinese community or the English community, the negative comments about Coinbase are increasing, and the voice of users is getting louder and louder.
Image source: CryptoQuant
Coinbase’s “Entry Metaphysics”
Some users reported that when two transactions were processed in the same block, the Coinbase system might only record one transaction, and the other transaction took several days to recover after a fight with customer service. User @0x 4848 said: I said it was a bug, and they said it was a feature to protect the safety of funds.
Such problems in the name of security will become an overdraft of users patience and trust if there is no efficient and transparent handling mechanism.
Customer Service: Slowness is the norm
Coinbase’s customer service system has long been a “complaint concentration camp.” Many users have reported that Coinbase’s smart assistant is useless and cannot really solve problems.
Once you choose manual customer service, the nightmare of waiting really begins. Manual customer service has very low authority and can often only record the problem and provide feedback. According to user feedback, it takes at least 48 hours to receive an initial response, and it may take a week or even longer to fully resolve a problem.
In addition, some users said that their customer service communication mechanism was chaotic and inefficient. They kept emailing me back and forth asking for the same information, I provided it, and they said it was not enough. User @MattLGov said, Dealing with Coinbase customer service is absolutely terrible.
Image source: @0x Ponga, @MattLGov
There are frauds outside and employees crossing the line inside
Coinbase users have frequently become targets of fraud. On-chain detective ZachXBT revealed that related cases last month alone resulted in a loss of up to $46 million.
At the same time, data security issues also broke out within Coinbase. Mike Dudas, co-founder of The Block, said on the X platform that he received an official email showing that an employee may have illegally accessed some user account data, including his own. The email read: We have detected signs that an employee may have viewed a small number of customer account records in a manner that is inconsistent with internal policies. (Related reading: Losing $300 million a year, Coinbase users are frequently scammed, and there is an insider behind it who leaked information? )
The indifferent style of read but not reply
In terms of user communication, Coinbase has almost zero presence. It is not open to retail investors, and has not established effective user communication channels. Whether it is the CEO or the senior management team, they rarely respond to user questions publicly on social platforms, and even when faced with a large number of complaints and doubts, they rarely come forward to clarify or explain.
There may be cultural background and regulatory considerations behind this silence, but the result is that it is difficult for users voices to be heard.
Image source: @WutalkWu
“Aristocratic” handling fee
User @hyperunit compiled the cost of buying 1 spot Bitcoin at the mainstream exchanges according to the initial fee level, and the results showed that Coinbases fee reached $329.68, which is at a relatively high level. In addition, community user @Tmzhao 1 pointed out that if you want to get the same fee level as ordinary users of Binance on Coinbase, users need to start from VIP 0, complete a transaction volume of about $250 million, and pay more than $300,000 in cumulative fees.
Although Coinbase Pro (now Advanced Trade) offers lower fee options, its interface is relatively complex and many ordinary users are not familiar with or easy to use.
Image source: @hyperunit
Coinbases compliance halo is undoubtedly the cornerstone of its position in the US market. However, as it continues to increase its reliance on institutions, it seems to have gradually weakened its connection with ordinary users. On this road of pursuing compliance and security, Coinbase is quietly sacrificing user experience and giving up the fine-tuning of platform operations and services.
Behind the movement of this giant ship, scattered are the whispers and expectations of countless users, whose voices are gradually swallowed up by cumbersome processes and indifferent mechanisms.
