Crypto exchange Coinbase disclosed today that it has experienced a significant security breach, resulting in the theft of sensitive personal information belonging to its customers.
According to a regulatory filing submitted to U.S. authorities, Coinbase was contacted by a hacker who claimed responsibility for obtaining substantial user data and demanded payment in exchange for not publishing the stolen information. Coinbase stated explicitly that it has not agreed to any ransom or financial settlement with the attacker.
The company explained that the attacker accessed the data by bribing multiple support employees and contractors located outside of the United States. These individuals exploited their authorized system access to retrieve sensitive data from internal Coinbase networks. The implicated staff members responsible for the data leak have since been dismissed.
Coinbase first detected this unauthorized activity in the preceding months and proactively alerted affected users about the potential misuse of their private details.
The stolen data includes extensive personal information, such as user names, mailing addresses, email addresses, telephone numbers, and the last four digits of Social Security numbers. Additional compromised data encompasses partially obscured bank account numbers, bank routing details, official government-issued identification documents—including passports and driver’s licenses—as well as account balances and transaction histories. Beyond customer data, Coinbase also disclosed that certain corporate internal documentation was taken in the breach.
In response to this cybersecurity incident, Coinbase anticipates it will incur costs between $180 million and $400 million, covering expenditures related to remediation efforts and potential customer reimbursements.
