Coinbase law enforcement requests jumped 66% over the past year

Coinbase received 12,320 law enforcement requests for the year through Sept. 30, a 66% increase.

The majority, 43%, of requests came from the U.S., followed by the UK, Germany and Spain, according to the exchange’s latest transparency report. 

“Since last year’s report, these requests have more than doubled, which we attribute to a combination of our own expansion and an overall increase in law enforcement and regulatory interest in the crypto industry,” Paul Grewal, chief legal officer of Coinbase, said in a blog post. 

The exchange, which serves more than 108 million customers around the world, regularly receives and responds to requests from law enforcement and government agencies seeking customer account information and financial records in connection with civil, criminal or other investigative matters.

The increase comes months after Tornado Cash was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control for being used by a hacker group linked to North Korea. Last month, Kraken agreed to settle with OFAC for apparent violations of the Iranian Transactions and Sanctions Regulations. 

Grewal said the overwhelming majority of requests, both globally and in the U.S., were from law enforcement agencies in connection with criminal enforcement matters. Such requests range can be in the form of subpoenas, court orders, search warrants or other formal legal processes.

“We have an obligation to respond to such requests if they are valid under financial regulations and other applicable laws,” Grewal wrote. 

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