Agreed, that is an extremely intrusive question, but wasn't it on an optional questionnaire? I started to take a "Customer Satisfaction Survey" type of form but seeing it was full of intrusive questions, just abandoned it. Those kinds of questions come from the banks that are under severe regulation, not free-market institutions at all.
Certainly CB comes under pressure from the "know your customer" type of bank regulation. But they would not willingly offend their clients without that external pressure. Someone out there doesn't want the middle (peasant) class to have any kind of independence at all. It's an undeclared, asymmetrical war on freedom.
And take note, the sage advice is to get your assets off of the exchanges for the long haul.
Wise words. I got into cryptocurrencies (BTC/LTC especially) because I love what they stand for. Decentralized, finite amount, deflationary, anonymity, "be your own bank currency" that puts the power back into the people's hands...away from the central bankers. And yes, it is the banks/IRS that is forcing the hand of Coinbase, so I can't blame Coinbase entirely, but the info they were asking for is completely contradictory to what I believe is the message of cryptos. And yes, I have most of money off the exchanges...around 95%. The other 5% I'm short term trading with.