# Coinbase’s Neutrino acquisition draws flak, several users delete accounts By Shampa Mani Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/business/1386 Published: 2019-03-04T11:00:58.000Z Updated: 2019-03-04T11:00:58.000Z Section: Business > Leading cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase’s recent acquisition of blockchain analytics firm Neutrino has come under fire as some facts about the latter have come to light. Leading cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase’s recent [acquisition of blockchain analytics firm Neutrino]() has come under fire as some facts about the latter have come to light. [CoinDesk]() reported that some of the executives of Neutrino – CEO Giancarlo Russo, CTO Alberto Ornaghi, and CRO Marco Valleri – were previously involved in a startup called ‘Hacking Team,’ which was infamous for selling spyware to a number of governments known for human rights abuses. Angry Coinbase users started circulating #deletecoinbase on Twitter, with many sharing screenshots of them closing their Coinbase accounts. [#DeleteCoinbase]() is way easier than deleting facebook. [@hodlhodl]() and [@bisq_network]() are much better alternatives I will be forced to use from now on. [pic.twitter.com/sbIiAuU4fB]() — David da Silva Rosa ⚡️ (@dldasilvarosa) [March 1, 2019]() Just deleted my [@coinbase]() account [#DeleteCoinbase]() [https://t.co/GTwtfZIvIt]() [pic.twitter.com/0JoFQ6Zd5j]() — Warren Gray (@wariner) [March 1, 2019]() Today I [#DeleteCoinbase]() thanks to the [#DeleteCoinbaseTrustChain]() [pic.twitter.com/xRb0DzestS]() — Ben Carman ⚡️ (@benthecarman) [February 28, 2019]() [#DeleteCoinbase]() 6 years account deleted. Hiring people from Hacking Team was the last straw [@coinbase]() [pic.twitter.com/hYP0yeiZ0K]() — SylTi (@SylTilt) [February 28, 2019]() Bitcoin enthusiast Udi Wertheimer told [Motherboard](): “I hope that this message makes Coinbase understand that a press release won't fix this. They need to disassociate themselves from Hacking Team if they have any hope of earning people's trust again. I don't know if this can happen, so the alternative is that people at least know about it and get to decide for themselves.” Speaking to [Cheddar](), Christine Sandler, Coinbase’s head of sales, said that while the company was aware of the backgrounds of some of Neutrino’s executives, they acquired the latter as they had “some really industry leading and best-in-class technology.” Elaborating further, Sandler said: “It was important for us to migrate away from our current providers. They were selling client data to outside sources and it was compelling for us to get control over that and have proprietary technology that we could leverage to keep the data safe and protect our clients." G M T Y Detect languageAfrikaansAlbanianAmharicArabicArmenianAzerbaijaniBasqueBelarusianBengaliBosnianBulgarianCatalanCebuanoChichewaChinese (Simplified)Chinese (Traditional)CorsicanCroatianCzechDanishDutchEnglishEsperantoEstonianFilipinoFinnishFrenchFrisianGalicianGeorgianGermanGreekGujaratiHaitian CreoleHausaHawaiianHebrewHindiHmongHungarianIcelandicIgboIndonesianIrishItalianJapaneseJavaneseKannadaKazakhKhmerKoreanKurdishKyrgyzLaoLatinLatvianLithuanianLuxembourgishMacedonianMalagasyMalayMalayalamMalteseMaoriMarathiMongolianMyanmar (Burmese)NepaliNorwegianPashtoPersianPolishPortuguesePunjabiRomanianRussianSamoanScots GaelicSerbianSesothoShonaSindhiSinhalaSlovakSlovenianSomaliSpanishSundaneseSwahiliSwedishTajikTamilTeluguThaiTurkishUkrainianUrduUzbekVietnameseWelshXhosaYiddishYorubaZulu AfrikaansAlbanianAmharicArabicArmenianAzerbaijaniBasqueBelarusianBengaliBosnianBulgarianCatalanCebuanoChichewaChinese (Simplified)Chinese (Traditional)CorsicanCroatianCzechDanishDutchEnglishEsperantoEstonianFilipinoFinnishFrenchFrisianGalicianGeorgianGermanGreekGujaratiHaitian CreoleHausaHawaiianHebrewHindiHmongHungarianIcelandicIgboIndonesianIrishItalianJapaneseJavaneseKannadaKazakhKhmerKoreanKurdishKyrgyzLaoLatinLatvianLithuanianLuxembourgishMacedonianMalagasyMalayMalayalamMalteseMaoriMarathiMongolianMyanmar (Burmese)NepaliNorwegianPashtoPersianPolishPortuguesePunjabiRomanianRussianSamoanScots GaelicSerbianSesothoShonaSindhiSinhalaSlovakSlovenianSomaliSpanishSundaneseSwahiliSwedishTajikTamilTeluguThaiTurkishUkrainianUrduUzbekVietnameseWelshXhosaYiddishYorubaZulu Text-to-speech function is limited to 200 characters Options : History : Feedback : [Donate]() Close ## Links in this article - [acquisition of blockchain analytics firm Neutrino](https://www.tokenpost.com/Coinbase-acquires-blockchain-intelligence-platform-Neutrino-1303) - [CoinDesk](https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-delete-coinbase-neutrino-crypto?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter) - [#DeleteCoinbase](https://twitter.com/hashtag/DeleteCoinbase?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) - [@hodlhodl](https://twitter.com/hodlhodl?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) - [@bisq_network](https://twitter.com/bisq_network?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) - [pic.twitter.com/sbIiAuU4fB](https://t.co/sbIiAuU4fB) - [March 1, 2019](https://twitter.com/dldasilvarosa/status/1101592795859566592?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) - [@coinbase](https://twitter.com/coinbase?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) - [https://t.co/GTwtfZIvIt](https://t.co/GTwtfZIvIt) - [pic.twitter.com/0JoFQ6Zd5j](https://t.co/0JoFQ6Zd5j) - [March 1, 2019](https://twitter.com/wariner/status/1101460847635902464?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) - [#DeleteCoinbaseTrustChain](https://twitter.com/hashtag/DeleteCoinbaseTrustChain?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) - [pic.twitter.com/xRb0DzestS](https://t.co/xRb0DzestS) - [February 28, 2019](https://twitter.com/benthecarman/status/1101184244603387906?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) - [pic.twitter.com/hYP0yeiZ0K](https://t.co/hYP0yeiZ0K) - [February 28, 2019](https://twitter.com/SylTilt/status/1101082175905112064?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw) - [Motherboard](https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/xwb7xj/coinbase-users-struggle-to-delete-their-accounts-in-protest?utm_source=mbtwitter) - [Cheddar](https://cheddar.com/media/coinbase-adds-support-for-ripple-s-xrp-despite-regulatory-uncertainty) - [Donate](https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=GD9D8CPW8HFA2)