Coinbase stops trading privacy coin Zcash – Where can you still buy Zcash (ZEC)?

The British arm of Coinbase ceases trading for the privacy-oriented cryptocurrency zcash.

Forced acting

According to customers, Coinbase UK sends emails to customers who warn people that they have to convert their zcash (ZEC) into other coins on Coinbase, or they have to send it to their own wallet.

@zcash @ElectricCoinCo @coinbase what’s going on with Zcash in the UK? pic.twitter.com/6GWS9CuIoH

– Alex (@deskofwilkes) August 8, 2019

Coinbase gave no specific reason for removing the cryptocurrency. They do say that all remaining ZEC of Coinbase UK customers will be converted into British pounds on 26 August.

The Electric Coin Company, developer of zcash, seems to confirm the news:

Those affected by @coinbase UK issues: this is limited to Coinbase UK only. UK residents can still buy / sell Zcash through @cex_io. No other exchanges affected in the UK. To pre-empt speculation, we confirm that Zcash is 100% compatible with UK regulations & KYC / AML requirements.

– Electric Coin Company (@ElectricCoinCo) August 9, 2019

To collect taxes

The Financial Conduct Authority, the UK financial watchdog, said in July that some cryptocurrency may fall under its legal jurisdiction. Subsequently, the UK tax office, HM Revenue & Customs, sent letters to crypto traders operating in the UK. This requires that traders share the names of customers and transaction history, the purpose is to collect unpaid taxes.

In that respect, privacy clains are a thorn in the eye of tax authorities. Zcash offers users the possibility to screen all transaction details. That is, moreover, a user’s choice. With every transaction you can choose to anonymize the delivery and shipping addresses. Coinbase initially only supported transactions to transparent addresses. In November 2018, they said: “In the future, we will investigate support for recordings of protected addresses if this complies with local legislation.”

And now? How do you get zcash?

The fastest and easiest way to get zcash is via BLOX. Download the app and within two minutes you will already have zcash. On BLOX you not only buy zcash but all popular cryptocurrency. Think of bitcoin, monero, ether, ripple and more. The app is free to download and is available for iPhone and Android.