Coinbase reports rising data requests and growing pressure from abroad

In its seventh annual report, the US-based crypto exchange says the overall volume of requests has stayed within a relatively steady band of 10,000–13,000 per year over the past four years, even as its products and services have expanded to “well over 100 countries.” The latest figures underline both the growing use of Coinbase globally and the intensifying interest of regulators and law enforcement agencies in onchain activity.

Coinbase reports that it received requests from authorities in more than 60 countries during the 2025 reporting period. These included subpoenas, court orders, search warrants and other forms of formal legal process tied to civil, criminal and other investigative matters. The company notes that it is legally required to respond when requests are valid under applicable law.

One of the central trends highlighted in the report is the shift in geographic balance. Around 53% of all requests now come from jurisdictions outside the United States, up about 2 percentage points compared with the previous report. At the same time, roughly 80% of law enforcement requests in 2025 were concentrated in six countries: the US, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Spain and Australia.

The US remains the single largest source of information demands and has held that position from 2022 through 2025. However, several other markets registered sharp changes. France recorded the most pronounced increase, with law enforcement requests rising by about 111% year-on-year. The UK and Spain saw increases of around 16% and 27% respectively, while Australia reported a smaller uptick of about 1%. By contrast, Germany’s requests declined by roughly 5%, Sweden’s by around 31% and South Korea’s by about 67% over the same period. Requests from Moldova and Brazil rose more steeply, multiplying by factors of 5.7 and 2.7.

As in earlier years, Coinbase says the “overwhelming majority” of government contact globally, and specifically in the United States, came from law enforcement agencies in connection with criminal investigations rather than civil or administrative matters. The report aggregates these requests across all major Coinbase services, including the retail app on coinbase.com, Coinbase Exchange and Coinbase Prime.

The report is authored by Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal, who frames the document as part of the company’s ongoing effort to balance legal obligations with user privacy. Grewal writes that every request is reviewed individually by “a team of trained experts using established procedures” to determine legal sufficiency. In some cases, Coinbase asks authorities to narrow requests that are “overly broad or vague,” and in others it objects outright if it considers the demand legally insufficient.

Coinbase reiterates that, where possible, it prefers to provide anonymized or aggregated data to investigators instead of specific customer records. When the company does disclose individual-level data, the information may include a customer’s name, recently used IP address and payment details, in line with what is described in its privacy policy. The report emphasizes that Coinbase does not grant any government “direct access” to customer information on its systems or those of third-party vendors.

The 2025 edition also restates several frequently asked questions about the scope of the transparency program. Coinbase confirms that the report covers all of its major entities and services that are available in the jurisdictions concerned, and that countries are only listed where services are offered and/or at least one formal government or law enforcement request has been received.

Positioning transparency as “the foundation of trust,” Coinbase crypto exchange says it intends the annual report to give customers, partners and policymakers clearer visibility into how often authorities request user data and how the company responds. The publication arrives at a time when global regulators are increasing scrutiny of centralized intermediaries in the crypto sector, even as onchain activity and decentralized finance continue to grow.