Since mid-2024, Coinbase, the world’s third-largest spot crypto exchange by trading volume, has been turning to artificial intelligence (AI) to manage customer support. While the company touts AI as a way to streamline operations and enhance response times, many users argue that the system is poor and as sharp as “a wooden spoon in a sword fight.”
In an X post late Tuesday, co-founder and CEO Brian Armstrong talked about the company’s growing reliance and future plans on using AI, saying:
“We’re using AI in many ways at Coinbase (fraud prevention, customer support, risk scoring, design, and 100% of engineers have onboarded to Cursor), but the next step is every ticket in Jira/Linear should have a draft PR attached that was auto-generated by AI based on the description & screenshots. Will start with ‘fix it’ lower difficulty tickets, but eventually move to all.”
According to a November 2024 blog post, Coinbase’s AI-driven customer support system, known as the Conversational Coinbase Chatbot (CBCB), handles tens of thousands of customer inquiries each month.
Coinbase claims that the chatbot improves efficiency. This comes by addressing common issues such as account restrictions, platform policies, and transaction-related concerns. In addition, the chatbot was created to provide context-aware responses. This comes to life by integrating real-time account information, knowledge bases, and domain-specific rules.
The goal, according to the company, is to minimize back-and-forth interactions and free up time for human support to handle more complex cases.
Customers voice frustration over AI support
Coinbase’s ambitions to use AI haven’t been quite successful yet; many users say the AI-driven support system is utterly “useless.”
Complaints have surfaced across social media platforms, particularly X and Reddit, with some users alleging that AI-driven interactions have worsened their customer experience rather than improving it.
One long-time Coinbase user expressed their annoyance with the AI chatbot’s functionality, saying:
“I had to train your customer support person a simple question of where to find the wire instructions. I didn’t see them at first because they are hidden under $25,000 or more because you prefer the higher fees from Visa. Six years as a customer, and your support gets worse each passing day.”
Another disgruntled user said the “customer service sucks,” sharing a screenshot of bots only directing customers to Coinbase’s support email, offering no other solution.
Users report being trapped in AI loops
A Reddit user, under Coinbase’s forum, recounted their struggle with Coinbase’s chatbot while trying to verify their account as a foreign resident in Canada. They explained that they lacked a Canadian passport or ID, which Coinbase required for verification.
Having gone through repeated attempts to clarify their situation to what was supposed to be a human support agent, they found themselves trapped in an “automated loop.”
“I’m on a chat with an agent who supposedly is a human being about a situation I am in with my Coinbase account. I explained that I don’t have a Canadian passport or ID because I am not Canadian. The bot kept insisting that I change my country of residence or provide a Canadian ID, neither of which I can do.”
The vexed client described their frustration at being repeatedly offered the same solution, even after explaining multiple times, with no solution or reprieve in the end.
“Even when I asked to be transferred to someone else, the bot insisted on the same incorrect response. This is a new low for Coinbase support.”
Albert Renshaw, CEO of the software firm Apps4Life, suggested that instead of using AI to solve issues, Coinbase should use it to determine if human intervention is needed in support.
“Please use AI to see if your support flow has the user stuck in a silly or frustrating loop or if the support matter is pretty serious and needs to be escalated out of your automated system.”
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