Coinbase removing Zcash support for UK customers

Exchanges • August 12, 2019, 2:15AM EDT
The Block

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is removing the support for privacy cryptocurrency Zcash (ZEC) for its U.K. customers.

From Aug. 26 onwards, Coinbase’s UK customers “will no longer be able to hold a Zcash balance,” the exchange said in an email sent on Friday. 

Accordingly, its customers in the country will either have to convert Zcash into any other cryptocurrency or will have to move it to any other exchange or a hardware wallet, per the email.

If customers do not opt for either option by Aug. 26, Coinbase said it will automatically liquidate Zcash balances into customers’ GBP wallets.

The firm behind Zcash, Electric Coin Company, tweeted Friday that U.K. residents can still buy and sell Zcash through cryptocurrency exchange CEX.IO, adding: “No other exchanges in the UK affected,” except Coinbase.

Coinbase’s sudden removal plan for Zcash follows British tax agency HMRC’s notice to cryptocurrency exchanges, demanding customer and transaction information from cryptocurrency exchanges Coinbase, eToro and CEX.IO.

Electric Coin Company further said in Friday's tweet that Zcash is “100% compatible" with U.K. regulations as well as know-your-customer (KYC)/ anti-money laundering (AML) requirements.