Nazia Saeed
Coinbase is taking action to address a longstanding pain point for its users: frozen accounts. According to CEO Brian Armstrong, the crypto exchange has made substantial headway in reducing unnecessary account restrictions cutting them down by 82% through a combination of model upgrades and infrastructure improvements.
In a June 6 post on X, Armstrong admitted the issue has persisted “longer than is acceptable” and confirmed that resolving it is now a central focus for the company.
“The issue has been reduced by 82% so far, with more improvements coming,” Armstrong stated, adding that affected users should reach out to Coinbase Support for assistance.
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Complaints over prolonged account freezes have plagued Coinbase for years, with some users locked out for several months—or even longer—prompting many to leave the platform altogether. While this latest initiative aims to rebuild trust, confidence in Coinbase recently suffered another blow: a major data breach compromised the personal information of more than 70,000 customers.
AI-powered progress and product leadership
Armstrong credited Dor Levi, a recent addition to Coinbase’s product team, for spearheading the improvements. Since joining in April with a mandate to tackle account freezes, Levi has led efforts that involved “significant investments” in machine learning and backend systems.
“We’ve improved the precision and recall of all our models, and are seeing fewer restrictions/freezes as a result,” Levi shared in his own X post.
Both Armstrong and Levi emphasized that while unjustified freezes are being aggressively reduced, Coinbase will still enforce legitimate restrictions in compliance with court orders and legal sanctions.
Still, Levi acknowledged that the platform isn’t yet where it needs to be.
“As a Coinbase user myself, the experience with account restrictions doesn’t meet my own bar,” he admitted.
Users voice concerns over long delays and support gaps
Despite the encouraging progress, users continue to share troubling stories. One reported being locked out of their account for more than two years, while another abandoned Coinbase after an eight-month freeze. A common thread in user feedback has been the lack of responsive customer support. It’s extremely hard to speak to a live customer service person,” one user wrote, noting that tracking down help “can take forever.
A market giant at a crossroads
Despite these challenges, Coinbase remains a dominant force in the crypto ecosystem. With a user base exceeding 100 million and status as the largest custodian for spot Bitcoin ETFs, the company’s influence remains significant. However, how it handles security and user trust in the coming months may be just as critical as any technical upgrade.
