Coinbase received an E-money license from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK and as a result, they have updated their User Agreement and Privacy Policy, which will become effective as of March 21, 2018. Therefore by continuing to use their services on or after March 21, 2018, you agree to be bound by the new User Agreement and Privacy Policy. The
Coinbase claim that the E-money license lays the foundation for future product improvements that will be available to customers outside the US/EU. They have also taken this opportunity to make their terms more accessible and easier to read. They encourage users to carefully review the new User Agreement and Privacy Policy, and further state that If for any reason users do not agree to these new terms, they advise that they would rather close your account.
Questions or concerns regarding this notice could contact COINBASE by visiting their Support Portal or by writing to them at 9th Floor, 107 Cheapside, London EC2V 6DN, United Kingdom.
The USER AGREEMENT begins as below:
COINBASE USER AGREEMENT
This User Agreement shall be effective immediately for all new customers who sign-up on or after March 14, 2018. For all customers who signed up prior to March 14, 2018, the previous version of our User Agreement will govern and control until March 21, 2018, when it will be superseded by this User Agreement.
The websites and the services offered by Coinbase are NOT addressed to persons who have their registered office or place of residence in Germany. For customers outside the EU, provisions related to the E-Money Services provided by CB Payments Ltd. shall not apply to your use of the services.
This is a contract between you and each of:
Coinbase UK, Ltd ("Coinbase UK"), a private limited company incorporated in England and Wales with company number 09083955 and whose registered office is 9th Floor, 107 Cheapside, London, EC2V 6DN; and
CB Payments Ltd ("Coinbase Payments") a private limited company incorporated in England and Wales with company number 09708629 and whose registered office is 9th Floor, 107 Cheapside, London EC2V 6DN, United Kingdom.
References in this Agreement to "Coinbase", "we", "our"or "us", are to Coinbase UK and/or Coinbase Payments depending on the context, and references to "you"or "your"are to the person with whom Coinbase enters into this Agreement.
By signing up to use an account through coinbase.com or gdax.com, or any of our associated websites, APIs, or mobile applications (collectively the "Coinbase Site"), you agree that you have read, understood, and accept all of the terms and conditions contained in this Agreement, as well as our Privacy Policy and E-Sign Consent Policy.
You should be aware that the risk of loss in trading or holding Digital Currencies can be substantial. Digital Currency Services are not currently regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority or any other regulator. You should therefore carefully consider whether trading or holding Digital Currencies is suitable for you in light of your financial condition.
[Last updated: March 14, 2018]
- COINBASE SERVICES.
1.1. Eligibility. To be eligible to use the Coinbase Services, you must be at least 18 years old.
Your eligibility to access certain Coinbase Services also depends on the country in which you reside. The list of Coinbase Services accessible by country can be found at Coinbase.
1.2. E-Money Services. The following services (the "E-Money Services") are provided to you by Coinbase Payments:
A hosted digital wallet enabling you to store electronic money issued by Coinbase Payments (the "E-Money Wallet"and "E-Money"respectively).
Certain payment services enabling you to send and receive E-Money.
Coinbase E-Money Services are regulated by the FCA. Coinbase Payments is an authorised electronic money institution authorised and regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority ("FCA") with register number 900635.
1.3. Digital Currency Services. The following services (the "Digital Currency Services") are provided to you by Coinbase UK:
One or more hosted digital currency wallets enabling you to store, track, transfer, and manage your balances of certain supported digital currencies, like Bitcoin or Ethereum (the "Digital Currency Wallet"and "Digital Currency"respectively);
A Digital Currency exchange service enabling you to obtain prices for your purchases and sales of Digital Currencies (a "DC Exchange");
A Digital Currency conversion service enabling you to buy and sell Digital Currencies in transactions with Coinbase UK (the "Conversion Services").
Unlike Coinbase E-Money Services, Coinbase Digital Currency Services are not regulated by the FCA. Coinbase UK is not a regulated financial services provider. Coinbase UK is based in, and provides its services from, the UK.
1.4. Additional Coinbase Services. In addition to the core services, the following services ("Additional Services") may be made available by Coinbase UK to users that fulfil certain eligibility criteria:
GDAX Services (Appendix 1);
Developer's Tools (Appendix 2).
We refer to the Coinbase E-Money Services, Coinbase Digital Currency Services and Additional Services together as the "Coinbase Services".
1.5. Fees: A full list of Coinbase UK's fees can be found on Pricing and Fees Disclosures page.
2.COINBASE ACCOUNTS AND ACCESS.
2.1. Registration of Coinbase Account. In order to use the Coinbase Services, you will need to register for a Coinbase account (a"Coinbase Account") by providing your name, an e-mail address, password, and accepting the terms of this Agreement and our Privacy Policy. We may, in our sole discretion, refuse to open a Coinbase Account for you, or limit the number of Coinbase Accounts that you may hold.
2.2. Identity Verification. You agree to provide us with the information we request for the purposes of identity verification and the detection of money laundering, terrorist financing, fraud, or any other financial crime and permit us to keep a record of such information. You will need to complete certain verification procedures before you are permitted to use the Coinbase Services and your access to one or more Coinbase Services, including certain transfers of E-Money and Digital Currency, and the limits that apply to your use of the Coinbase Services, may be altered as a result of information collected on an ongoing basis. The information we request may include certain personal information, including, but not limited to, your name, address, telephone number, e-mail address, date of birth, taxpayer identification number, government identification number, and information regarding your bank account (such as the name of the bank, the account type, routing number, and account number). In providing us with this or any other information that may be required, you confirm that the information is accurate and authentic. You agree to keep us updated if any of the information you provide changes. You authorise us to make the inquiries, whether directly or through third parties, that we consider necessary to verify your identity or protect you and/or us against fraud or other financial crime, and to take action we reasonably deem necessary based on the results of such inquiries. When we carry out these inquiries** , you acknowledge and agree that your personal information may be disclosed to credit reference and fraud prevention or financial crime agencies and that **** these agencies may respond to our inquiries in full **. This is an identity check only and should have no adverse effect on your credit rating. Additionally, we may require you to wait some amount of time after completion of a transaction, before permitting you to use further Coinbase Services and/or before permitting you to engage in transactions beyond certain volume limits.
2.3 Access. To access the Coinbase Services, you must have the necessary equipment (such as a smartphone or tablet) and the associated telecommunication service subscriptions to access the Internet. The Coinbase Services can be accessed directly using the Coinbase Site.
- PAYMENT SERVICES
3.1. Loading. You can load funds into your E-Money Wallet using one of the payment methods available in the Coinbase Site, such as a credit or debit card, or bank transfer (your E-Money Wallet will show loaded funds once we have received them). When you "load"funds into the E-Money Wallet you will be issued with E-Money by Coinbase Payments. The E-Money Wallet is not a deposit account which means that you E-Money will not be protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. However, Coinbase Payments will hold funds received in a designated safekeeping account with a regulated financial institution. E-Money held in an E-Money Wallet will not earn any interest. Your E-Money Wallet may hold E-Money denominated in different currencies and we will show the E-Money balance for each currency that you hold.
3.2. Purchase of Digital Currency. To purchase Digital Currency using E-Money, you must follow the relevant instructions on the Coinbase Site. A purchase of Digital Currency using E-money should occur on the business day we receive your instructions.
3.3. Receipt of instructions. If we receive instructions from you to purchase Digital Currency using E-Money on a non-business day or after 4:30 pm (London time) on a business day, we may treat those instructions as if they were received by us on the following business day.
3.5. Revocation. When you give us instructions to purchase Digital Currency using E-Money, you cannot withdraw your consent to that purchase unless the purchase is not due to occur until an agreed date in the future e.g. this may occur if you set up a recurring purchase of Digital Currency (+a "Future Transaction"). In the case of a Future Transaction, you may withdraw your consent up until the end of the business day before the date that the Future Transaction is due to take place. To withdraw your consent to a Future Transaction follow the instructions on the Coinbase Site.
3.6. Account Information. You will be able to see your E-Money Wallet balance and your transaction history using the Coinbase Site, including (i) the amount (and currency) of each Digital Currency Purchase, (ii) a reference to identify the payer and / or payee (as appropriate), (iii) any fees charged (including a breakdown of the fees), (iv) where there has been a currency exchange, the rate of exchange, and the amount (in the new currency) after exchange (where you are the payer) or the amount (in the original currency) before the exchange (where you are the payee), and (v) the debit or credit date of each Digital Currency Purchase (as appropriate).
The remaining parts of the User Agreement is available here., also, the privacy policy is also available here