Coinbase Says Law Enforcement Requests Rose 66% From Year Ago

Coinbase (COIN) said that total worldwide law enforcement and agency requests increased 66% to 12,320, according to its latest transparency report, released Monday.

The report, the exchange's fourth, covers the period from Oct. 1, 2021, through Sept. 30, 2022.

Coinbase, which has more than 108 million customers around the world, attributed the increase in requests to a combination of the company’s expansion and “an overall increase in law enforcement and regulatory interest in the crypto industry.”

The highest volume of law enforcement and agency requests from a single country came from the U.S., with 5,304, while the second-most number of requests came from the U.K. with 1,744, the report said. The number of U.S. requests increased 6% from the previous annual period. and Coinbase noted around 80% of total requests came from the U.S., U.K., Germany and Spain.

More than 95% of total requests were from law enforcement agencies related to criminal enforcement matters, as opposed to civil or administrative matters. These criminal enforcement matters include subpoenas, court orders, search warrants and other formal legal processes.