Coinbase CEO Says Company Won’t Pay Hackers’ Ransom

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong stated in a social media post Thursday {that a} ransom observe arrived through e-mail asking for $20 million in Bitcoin in trade for not releasing data hackers had obtained on Coinbase’s clients.

“I will reply publicly,” Armstrong stated. “We’re not going to pay ransom.”

https://t.co/evpIBMFvRW pic.twitter.com/f6UPdkL5R0

— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) May 15, 2025

Armstrong stated attackers had discovered a “weak hyperlink” customer support agent outdoors the U.S. who accepted a “bribe” and gave away private information on clients.

In an organization blog post, Coinbase stated it is going to reimburse clients tricked into sending funds to the attacker. Hackers obtained entry to names, addresses, cellphone numbers, and emails; masked Social Safety numbers (final 4 digits solely); masked financial institution‑account numbers; and authorities‑ID photographs (driver’s licenses, passports). No passwords or personal keys have been obtained, the corporate says. The e-mail arrived on Sunday.

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“(The stolen information) permits them to conduct social engineering assaults the place they will name our clients impersonating Coinbase buyer help and attempt to trick them into sending their funds to the attackers,” Armstrong stated.

Per the AP, Coinbase estimated in a filing with the SEC that it may find yourself spending anyplace between $180 million and $400 million “referring to remediation prices and voluntary buyer reimbursements referring to this incident.”

In the meantime, the New York Times reports that the SEC is individually investigating Coinbase over whether or not or not it reported inaccurate numbers throughout its IPO in 2021. The corporate claimed to have greater than 100 million “verified customers” in advertising supplies.

Coinbase’s inventory dropped 7% on Thursday after the information, per Yahoo.

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