I am trying to do something very quickly. (Over the next few months, I
   expect things to change greatly.)
    I understand your concerns.  I believe that the presence of a "former
   Federal prosecutor" within Coinbase will be approximately the least of
   my worries.  I fully expect that everything I do will come under the
   highest level of observation.
   And yes, I understand the issue about holding one's private keys.  (at
   least, from a beginner's standpoint.)  I have read up on the subject of
   Mt. Gox, etc.
   Soon enough, I will have my own BTC  wallet.  (Actually, I already do,
   but I don't trust this.)  My immediate concern is that I am not
   sufficiently confident in my ability to reliably maintain such a wallet
   on a small, ordinary personal computer, 24 hours per day, etc..
   Obviously a crash could be a disaster.  I have decided that at least
   for a few months, placing this on Coinbase is a reasonable compromise.
    I am not aware of of an impending liquidity problem with Coinbase.
   There are other considerations.
                      Jim Bell
   On Thursday, September 28, 2017, 12:27:47 PM PDT, juan
   <juan.g71@gmail.com> wrote:
   On Thu, 28 Sep 2017 07:19:26 +0000 (UTC)
   jim bell <[1]jdb10987@yahoo.com> wrote:
   > I am trying to test three digital cash addresses, BTC, LTC, and ETH.
   >  They are set up in the Coinbase system,
       Jim, I strongly suggest you close your coinbase account ASAP.


   [2]https://blog.coinbase.com/kathryn-haun-joins-coinbase-board-of-direc
   tors-65b4d4c4e65f
       "We are excited to announce former federal prosecutor Kathryn
       Haun has joined our parent company Board of Directors."
       "federal prosecutor with the U.S. Department of Justice and its
       first-ever Digital Currency coordinator."
       "She also held a significant role in the case of two federal
       agents’ role in the investigation into Silk Road."

   [3]https://cointelegraph.com/news/coinbase-is-tracking-how-users-spend-
   their-bitcoins

       Jim, coinbase is THE ENEMY.
   > but I have found that system
   > to be very confusing:
       Also, you are NOT using bitcoin if you use any middleman. You
       must use a bitcoin client and you must have control of the
       private keys. If you use coinbase or any service like that THEY
       OWN your bitcoins, not you.
   > Lots of pitfalls and booby-traps. Can some one
   > send me a tiny amount of each currency to the following addresses.  I
   > will only need one try to tell me if it's successfull, so if you are
   > intending to do so, call it out, and that will alert others that they
   > need not follow. --------------------------------Bitcoin (BTC)
   > Address:                 12QM4GU2WSjGiKacCKhsY4LJGf6rrtdBty
   > -------------------------------- Litecoin (LTC) Address:
   >     LKFu2gAaRitruUgJeeVUeWobbE8dMwVQfK
   >
   > -----------------------------------Ethereum (ETH)
   >         0xDB39D5f16645892AF9be93ddcF8e5d6E74BC2b83
   >
   >
   >
   > For BTC, 0.0001 seems to be the smallest number represented in the
   > Coinbase system, at least with an empty account.  (It shows 0.0000)
   >
   > Similarly, LTC and ETH are shown with a last-digit resolution of
   > 0.0001. Thanks,
   >                  Jim Bell
   >

References

   1. mailto:jdb10987@yahoo.com
   2. https://blog.coinbase.com/kathryn-haun-joins-coinbase-board-of-directors-65b4d4c4e65f
   3. https://cointelegraph.com/news/coinbase-is-tracking-how-users-spend-their-bitcoins