Dear Brian,

Congratulation on raising $216M.

Do you feel that you benefited from the fact that Bitcoin was unregulated in order to be the first in the space and you have sold-out on the principles of what Bitcoin was supposed to be?

I read the documents Coinbase sent to the ULC when they were talking about including U.C.C. article 8 (for those who don’t know U.C.C article 8 is a code word for Bitcoin is a Security) http://www.uniformlaws.org/shared/docs/regulation%20of%20virtual%20currencies/2017may2_RVCBA_Coinbase_Comments.pdf

You might not have followed my legal drama but I have the unfortunate distinction to have been your rival from the other coast (New York City) and was crushed by the BitLicense regulation.

Instead of joining me in the fight, you have decided (very wisely and very selfishly) to grow your company forgetting the value of Bitcoin.

What will happen when you become the next MtGox? Do you believe Coincenter is not hackable? Do you believe that the new NYDFS cyber rules are the correct one for a Bitcoin business?

I have heard from programmers from the Silicon Valley telling me that you were not able to setup a secure server to securely transfer a report via Secure Copy (SCP). Their only option was email or something so ridicule that I can’t print it.

If you are hacked and suddenly your valuation drop to zero, will you cry like Randall Lord about the unfairness of the system about a Redo? https://youtu.be/9pX7IQ6UOVM

After my company was prohibited from doing business in New York State, my company and I decided to fight the regulator.

http://AbolishTheBitlicense.org

If I win, and I will win, because Bitcoin is not Money under 18 USC 1960, you will have benefited from that win for free. I call those parasites.

It will be known in time that Coinbase fought for the regulation the moment it benefited it. By fighting for the regulation it turned its back on the Bitcoin ideals.

By supporting more regulation such as the ULC bitlicense (which is just a New York Bitlicense with a few Band Aid to be apply in every state of the union) you have actually insured the death of Bitcoin in the United States.

I sincerely believe that as a community, the only way to fight is together but I also believe that you have the right to be a parasite; but the moment I win, there will be more competitor and your valuation will reflect the real value of the innovation you bring to the space.

I am not one to keep grudges. You can still join me in the fight. You can tell the story of Morpheus Titania who has decided to fight the bitcoin charges all the way to a jury. https://www.facebook.com/groups/FreeMorpheusTitania

You can read my whole story here https://github.com/ZcashFoundation/GrantProposals-2017Q4/issues/3 and change your mind and join the fight !

So far the lesson I take from your post is that you are currently a parasite and I am reminded of Webvan or Metricom.

You can always stop being a parasite and join in the fight for the ideal of Bitcoin.

Regards,

Theo Chino — https://twitter.com/AbolishBtLicnse