Coinbase Makes Ending Account Freezing a Top Priority

Coinbase is tackling account freeze issues head-on with top-priority fixes, deploying smarter machine learning, in-app verification tools, and long-term safeguards to protect users.

Coinbase Says Account Freezing Issue Down 82% Amid Internal System Overhaul

Crypto exchange Coinbase (Nasdaq: COIN) addressed ongoing concerns about user account restrictions in a series of updates shared on June 6 on social media platform X. Chief executive Brian Armstrong admitted that the issue had persisted longer than it should have, stating on social media platform X on June 6:

Account freezing has been a major issue at Coinbase for longer than is acceptable. I could list a bunch of the underlying reasons why it got so bad in the first place, but what’s more important is that we’ve made it a priority to fix, and we have been making good progress.

Armstrong confirmed that the number of problematic freezes has already dropped significantly: “The issue has been reduced by 82% so far, with more improvements coming. We’ll keep you updated as further improvements roll out.” He directed any users still experiencing unwarranted restrictions to contact Coinbase Support for prioritized help.

Product leader Dor Levi, who joined Coinbase nine weeks ago, has made eliminating unjustified account freezes his top priority. “I myself am a Coinbase user and our restriction experience is not meeting my own bar,” he stated on X, highlighting both personal and professional urgency.

Levi outlined a focused initiative to ensure restrictions only occur in legally mandated or high-risk situations, such as fraud or account compromise. He credited recent system upgrades for “huge improvements without sacrificing our legal and regulatory obligations.” Enhanced machine learning models have sharply reduced false positives. “We’ve improved the precision and recall of all our models,” he noted. Coinbase has also introduced a user-focused approach to restrictions. Levi stressed:

We’re also tackling this problem from the other end by moving processes like source-of-funds verification and enhanced KYC into the app. This means most restriction types will have self-service flows to remove restrictions, which is much more efficient than previous options.

He concluded that Coinbase has embedded “guardrails and checks/balances” to ensure long-term accountability in addressing the problem and confirmed that further product enhancements are currently rolling out.