{"id":341597,"date":"2021-09-20T08:03:00","date_gmt":"2021-09-20T05:03:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/coinbase-signs-new-1-36m-contract-with-us-customs-enforcement-agency\/"},"modified":"2021-09-20T08:03:00","modified_gmt":"2021-09-20T05:03:00","slug":"coinbase-signs-new-1-36m-contract-with-us-customs-enforcement-agency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/coinbase-signs-new-1-36m-contract-with-us-customs-enforcement-agency\/","title":{"rendered":"# Coinbase signs new $1.36M contract with US Customs enforcement agency"},"content":{"rendered":"

“# Coinbase signs new $1.36M contract with US Customs enforcement agency <\/strong>”
\n<\/p>\n

Leading U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has secured a contract to develop tech for the Department of Homeland Security worth as much as $1.36 million.<\/p>\n

Under the agreement<\/a>, Coinbase has been contracted to deliver \u201capp<\/a>lication development software as a service\u201d for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement division (ICE). <\/p>\n

The contract took effect on Sept. 16 and will see Coinbase receive $455,000 from the department. However, the contract could be extended to last for up to three years in total, which would see Coinbase receive up to roughly $1.36 million.<\/p>\n

The deal is the second partnership inked between Coinbase and ICE, with the exchange having secured a $30,000 contract to provide \u201ccomputer forensics services\u201d to the agency in August. <\/p>\n

The news<\/a> has received backlash from the crypto community, with Human Rights Foundation chief strategy officer Alex Gladstein asserting<\/a> the compensation is relatively low given the scale of Coinbase\u2019s operations and the reputation risk posed to the exchange by the partnership:<\/p>\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t very much money for Coinbase in the grand scheme of things. Strange that they would risk much reputationally such a relatively small sum.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The news has also resurrected criticisms concerning Coinbase\u2019s 2019 acquisition of blockchain analytics startup, Neutrino.<\/p>\n

During the year of the acquisition, it was reported<\/a> that the people behind Neutrino had previously been part of Hacking Team \u2014 a company revealed to have helped authoritarian regimes to spy on journalists. <\/p>\n

Neutrino CEO, Giancarlo Russo, was the ex-COO of Hacking Team while its CTO, Alberto Ornaghi, was at the company for more than 8 years. According to the Washington Post<\/a>, the Italian company was implicated in the murder of a number of journalists in the Middle East between 2013 and 2018. <\/p>\n

In March 2019, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said that Neutrino staff with prior connections to controversial firm Hacking Team would transition out of their new roles at the exchange.<\/p>\n

Responding<\/a> to Coinbase\u2019s new contract with ICE, Kraken CEO Jesse Powell, tweeted: <\/p>\n

\u201cEven more bizarre is the acquisition they made and reputational hit they took to be able to offer this service to the government.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Related:<\/em><\/strong> <\/em><\/strong>Coinbase CEO Defends Licensing of Analytics Platform to Gov\u2019t Agencies<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Since its acquisition of Neutrino, Coinbase has also inked contracts<\/a> with the U.S. Secret Service \u2014 which announced the creation of a Cyber Fraud Task Force in July 2020. The task force has been mandated to investigate the use of cryptocurrency for criminal purposes, stating<\/a>\u00a0later that year:<\/p>\n

\u201cCryptocurrency presents a troubling new opportunity for individuals and rogue states to avoid international sanctions and to undermine traditional financial markets, thereby harming the interests of the United States and its allies.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Coinbase is currently embroiled in a regulatory tussle with the Securities Exchange Commission, with the regulator taking umbrage with its planned stablecoin lending product and threatening to take the company to court.<\/p>\n