CoinBase Lands Another Huge Contract with US Government

The three-year contract is worth $1.36 million – which will depend on the longevity of the deal.

By Radhika Parashar | Updated: 21 September 2021 13:55 IST

CoinBase Lands Another Huge Contract with US Government

Partnerships between CoinBase and the US government is being critised on Twitter

Highlights

The contract was reportedly finalised last week
This deal with the US government could get CoinBase $1.3 million by 2024
Yearly fee of $455,000 will be provided to CoinBase by the US govt

US-based crypto exchange CoinBase has bagged a three-year contract from the US Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) branch to provide software services, the second such contract that the company has secured. Under this contract, reportedly worth $1.36 million (over Rs. 10 crore), ICE has directed CoinBase to provide software development services to monitor crypto finances and trading in the US. The contract was reportedly finalised last week and specifies that Coinbase will get a yearly fee of $455,000 (over Rs. 3 crore), up to three years.

This is CoinBase's second contract with the US government. Back in August, ICE had roped in the crypto exchange to provide services related to computer forensics. For that contract, ICE paid $30,000 (over Rs. 22 lakh), CryptoAcademy.org reported on Tuesday.

According to a survey by Finder.com, the number of Americans who own a cryptocurrency has jumped from 7.95 percent in 2018 to 23.16 percent in 2021 — registering an increase of 61 percent in two years. The study added that roughly 59.1 million Americans own some form of crypto.

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Amid the market climate getting favorable for cryptocurrencies in the US, these back-to-back partnerships between CoinBase and the US government is being critised on social networking platforms.

Alex Gladstein, the Chief Strategy Officer at Human Rights Foundation tweeted that CoinBase was providing “financial surveillance software” to the US government.

“Strange that they would risk so much reputationally for such a relatively small sum,” Gladstein tweeted.

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Coinbase has inked their largest deal with the Feds yet, signing a $1.36M contract to provide ICE with financial surveillance software.

Why?https://t.co/EWKpWUqIcf
— Alex Gladstein ???? ⚡ (@gladstein) September 18, 2021

CoinBase is a popular crypto-exchange app in the US. As per news portal BusinessofApps.com, CoinBase — launched in 2012 is a global crypto exchange major with over 43 million users worldwide.

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Further reading: CoinBase, Software, ICE, US Government, Cryptocurrency

Radhika Parashar

Email Radhika

Radhika Parashar is a senior correspondent for Gadgets 360. She has been reporting on tech and telecom for the last three years now and will be focussing on writing about all things crypto. Besides this, she is a major sitcom nerd and often replies in Chandler Bing and Michael Scott references. For tips or queries you could reach out to her at RadhikaP@ndtv.com. More