Coinbase basically has the Haiku, Inc. Bitcoin trapped. Someone (not me, maybe Alex) created this Coinbase account as basically a personal account some time ago (probably before Coinbase had “institutional” accounts.)
People donated over the years, and then Coinbase added the requirement to “verify” the account details to be able to do anything with the Bitcoin. No one in Haiku, Inc wants to associate our personal details with this account for two reasons:
- This isn’t really our Bitcoin, it belongs to Haiku, Inc.
- We don’t want personal tax consequences of trying to transform this into dollars.
So I started the process to create an institutional account. This is apparently an insane bureaucratic nightmare as I got stuck at some point and could not figure how to get unstuck. They would send emails, and I would respond and do what they asked but then nothing would happen. I basically gave up and asked if anyone else in Haiku, Inc wanted to try to resolve this, but no one has.
I will try to get it going again but it is pretty frustrating.
I am not trying to play games with getting the best price for Bitcoin and I personally do not possess any Bitcoin myself as I consider it like a casino. I understand why it exists though, but I think it has become a bit unhinged from reality. Nonetheless I do have to deal with the Haiku, Inc. holdings. If we can sort out the issue where I can convert BTC to USD without personal tax consequences, I will convert some portion to help fund waddlesplash for the next year or whatever. I think continuing to hold some BTC would be okay but I would like to get some as USD.
If anyone reading this has any contacts in Coinbase who could help please private message me.