6 ms·

Agreed. When there is a public outcry, it means that there is inadequate processes are put into place for protect their customers. This happened twice today. Th

Agreed. When there is a public outcry, it means that there is inadequate processes are put into place for protect their customers. This happened twice today. This means something is fundamentally broken in Coinbase's customer service. Many famous VCs and founders browse HN. This will hurt their reputation.

DanielRibeiro 13y ago
Yes, Coinbase is a YC company[1], yes YC hosts this site (Hacker News is, after all, https://news.ycombinator.com https://news.ycombinator.com), yes their investors do comment on Hacker News threads[2]. Also, the CEO of Coinbase is on HN[4]. He is the top response to the other indignant thread[5], where he seems to be trying to fix this issue. Also note that you can easily find the CEO's email from his GitHub account[6] I understand there are many people who are very angry at the whole situation (just look at the conversation on Reddit[7]). I can only imagine how many other cases he is facing. The timing on this whole thing is just awful (1 week after funding announced, BitCoin crashes), which makes the whole situation very very awful. And giving support on public forums with angry customers is super hard, particularly because you start encouraging more people to do it, which escalates the situation to impossible terms, which sucks your time, which could be used to helping all the customers, including all the ones who are not being loud on Hacker News / Twitter / Reddit (also note that it is almost 4 AM where these people live, and they are probably sleeping). I honestly expect Coinbase to do the right thing[8], and that you'll get your money back (or your money's worth of BTC). [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4177605 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4177605 [2] Marc Andressen is https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=cdixon https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=cdixon , Chris Dixon is https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=cdixon https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=cdixon and they both commentd on their investment announcement thread[3]. Ben Horowitz is https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=bhorowitz https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=bhorowitz, but he has not ben very active here. [3] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6893658 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6893658 [4] https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=barmstrong https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=barmstrong [5] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6929705 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6929705 [6] First response on Google for me: https://github.com/barmstrong https://github.com/barmstrong, also the same username on HN: barmstrong@gmail.com [7] http://www.reddit.com/r/Coinbase http://www.reddit.com/r/Coinbase [8] Brian Chesky told the story how Marc helped AirBnb during one of their worst crisis, on this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=6yPfxcqEXhE#t=5784 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=6yP...
- Tehnix 13y ago
  Actually, Bitcoin crashing can only be an advantage to them since they lock the prices when the customer buys from them. As in, they just got an order for 20 btc at $1000 pr. btc, but, since it's crashed, they only have to pay $500 pr. btc and the customer still only gets them as if they still cost $1000. Effectively leaving them with a $500 profit pr. btc.
  - this_user 13y ago
    It may be a short-term advantage, but it will leave them with lots and lots of disgruntled customers which is terrible in the long run if you try to start a business. IMO all of this just goes to show that the BTC ecosystem is not yet mature enough and that you should only play with amounts that are not meaningful to you when lost.
    - Tehnix 13y ago
      Actually, not really. Correct me if I'm wrong in the assumptions I make on Coinbases' process (I only gathered from comments since I'm not US based and therefore can't use it). If a buyer buys the 8th, they then lock the price to what it is the 8th. They first deliver the bitcoins after they have received payment, which takes a couple of days (or is ACH instant?). They will have received the payment on the 13th, given them a 5 day window (or how ever many days it takes for the transfer) for bitcoins to drop in price. They then buy the bitcoins (which can be done almost instantly when you're on an exchange with funds) and send them to the user. See, they first buy the bitcoins when they have the payment. If the bitcoins drop in price, they benefit from the locked price, and the customer gets his bitcoins as promised. SO! no disgruntled customers, and, they aren't doing anything shady. They simply benefit from the time delay in paymet. This of course only works in their favor when btc drops, not when it rises.
      - dragontamer 13y ago
        The question however, is what if they are inconsistent in their approach? If Coinbase refunds in terms of USD whenever the market falls, and buys BTC whenever the market rises, then Coinbase is going to make a ton of money in any form of market volatility... and the customer is the one screwed in both cases. The question we have for Coinbase is: can we trust their policies to be consistent?

DanielRibeiro 13y ago

Yes, Coinbase is a YC company[1], yes YC hosts this site (Hacker News is, after all, https://news.ycombinator.com https://news.ycombinator.com), yes their investors do comment on Hacker News threads[2]. Also, the CEO of Coinbase is on HN[4]. He is the top response to the other indignant thread[5], where he seems to be trying to fix this issue. Also note that you can easily find the CEO's email from his GitHub account[6] I understand there are many people who are very angry at the whole situation (just look at the conversation on Reddit[7]). I can only imagine how many other cases he is facing. The timing on this whole thing is just awful (1 week after funding announced, BitCoin crashes), which makes the whole situation very very awful. And giving support on public forums with angry customers is super hard, particularly because you start encouraging more people to do it, which escalates the situation to impossible terms, which sucks your time, which could be used to helping all the customers, including all the ones who are not being loud on Hacker News / Twitter / Reddit (also note that it is almost 4 AM where these people live, and they are probably sleeping). I honestly expect Coinbase to do the right thing[8], and that you'll get your money back (or your money's worth of BTC). [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4177605 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4177605 [2] Marc Andressen is https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=cdixon https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=cdixon , Chris Dixon is https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=cdixon https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=cdixon and they both commentd on their investment announcement thread[3]. Ben Horowitz is https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=bhorowitz https://news.ycombinator.com/threads?id=bhorowitz, but he has not ben very active here. [3] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6893658 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6893658 [4] https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=barmstrong https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=barmstrong [5] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6929705 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6929705 [6] First response on Google for me: https://github.com/barmstrong https://github.com/barmstrong, also the same username on HN: barmstrong@gmail.com [7] http://www.reddit.com/r/Coinbase http://www.reddit.com/r/Coinbase [8] Brian Chesky told the story how Marc helped AirBnb during one of their worst crisis, on this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=6yPfxcqEXhE#t=5784 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=6yP...

Tehnix 13y ago
Actually, Bitcoin crashing can only be an advantage to them since they lock the prices when the customer buys from them. As in, they just got an order for 20 btc at $1000 pr. btc, but, since it's crashed, they only have to pay $500 pr. btc and the customer still only gets them as if they still cost $1000. Effectively leaving them with a $500 profit pr. btc.
- this_user 13y ago
  It may be a short-term advantage, but it will leave them with lots and lots of disgruntled customers which is terrible in the long run if you try to start a business. IMO all of this just goes to show that the BTC ecosystem is not yet mature enough and that you should only play with amounts that are not meaningful to you when lost.
  - Tehnix 13y ago
    Actually, not really. Correct me if I'm wrong in the assumptions I make on Coinbases' process (I only gathered from comments since I'm not US based and therefore can't use it). If a buyer buys the 8th, they then lock the price to what it is the 8th. They first deliver the bitcoins after they have received payment, which takes a couple of days (or is ACH instant?). They will have received the payment on the 13th, given them a 5 day window (or how ever many days it takes for the transfer) for bitcoins to drop in price. They then buy the bitcoins (which can be done almost instantly when you're on an exchange with funds) and send them to the user. See, they first buy the bitcoins when they have the payment. If the bitcoins drop in price, they benefit from the locked price, and the customer gets his bitcoins as promised. SO! no disgruntled customers, and, they aren't doing anything shady. They simply benefit from the time delay in paymet. This of course only works in their favor when btc drops, not when it rises.
    - dragontamer 13y ago
      The question however, is what if they are inconsistent in their approach? If Coinbase refunds in terms of USD whenever the market falls, and buys BTC whenever the market rises, then Coinbase is going to make a ton of money in any form of market volatility... and the customer is the one screwed in both cases. The question we have for Coinbase is: can we trust their policies to be consistent?