Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has publicly addressed a current cyberattack that focused the corporate’s buyer information by means of insider collusion and led to a $20 million in Bitcoin ransom demand.
In a video assertion shared on X, Armstrong confirmed that Coinbase had obtained a threatening e-mail from cybercriminals claiming to own delicate buyer info and demanding cost in Bitcoin to maintain it non-public.
https://t.co/evpIBMFvRW pic.twitter.com/f6UPdkL5R0
— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) Might 15, 2025
Armstrong rejected the demand outright and acknowledged that the change wouldn’t comply. As an alternative, the corporate is providing a $20 million reward for info that leads to the identification, arrest and conviction of these liable for the assault.
What occurred?
Based on Coinbase, the breach originated from a bunch of abroad buyer help brokers who had been bribed and recruited by the attackers. These rogue insiders abused restricted entry privileges to acquire private buyer information corresponding to names, dates of start and addresses.
Though passwords, non-public keys and funds weren’t compromised, the knowledge accessed was used to launch social engineering assaults aimed toward tricking prospects into transferring funds to the attackers.
The corporate reported that lower than 1% of its month-to-month transacting customers had been affected. Coinbase acknowledged the breach as unacceptable.
As a part of its response, the most important U.S. change is relocating a few of its buyer help operations and implementing extra safety measures to strengthen protections round buyer information.
The change additionally confirmed it can absolutely reimburse any prospects who had been deceived into sending funds on account of the assault. Particulars of the reimbursement course of can be found on the corporate’s web site.
