Crypto giant Coinbase has confirmed a breach of its systems, resulting in the theft of customer data, including government-issued identity documents.
In a legally mandated disclosure to U.S. regulators, Coinbase reported that a hacker informed the company this week about obtaining customer account information, subsequently demanding a ransom to avoid releasing the stolen data.
According to the filing, the hacker acquired this information by paying several contractors or employees in support roles outside the U.S. to gather data from internal Coinbase systems. The company stated that these support staff are no longer employed.
ICYMT: Former Springbok Rugby Player Cornal Hendricks Has Passed Away at the Age of 37
The filing also revealed that Coinbase detected the malicious activity “in previous months” and has alerted customers whose information may have been compromised to prevent misuse.
Coinbase has stated it will not pay the ransom, which CEO Brian Armstrong indicated was set at $20 million.
The stolen information includes customer names, addresses, phone numbers, the last four digits of Social Security numbers, masked bank account numbers, and government-issued identity documents like driver’s licenses and passports. Additionally, account balance data and transaction histories were also accessed.
Corporate data, including internal documentation, was also compromised in the breach.
In a blog post, Coinbase announced plans to open a new U.S.-based support hub and enhance its security measures.
A Coinbase spokesperson, Natasha LaBranche, informed TechCrunch that the number of affected customers is under 1% of its 9.7 million monthly users, as reported in the company’s latest annual report for March 2025.
The company anticipates costs related to incident remediation and customer reimbursements will range from $180 million to $400 million.
SOURCE: TECH CRUNCH
