Coinbase CEO Says Company Won’t Pay Hackers’ Ransom

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

“I’ll reply publicly,” Armstrong mentioned. “We aren’t going to pay ransom.”

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

— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) May 15, 2025

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

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

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“(The stolen knowledge) permits them to conduct social engineering assaults the place they’ll name our clients impersonating Coinbase buyer assist and attempt to trick them into sending their funds to the attackers,” Armstrong mentioned.

Per the AP, Coinbase estimated in a filing with the SEC that it might find yourself spending wherever between $180 million and $400 million “regarding remediation prices and voluntary buyer reimbursements regarding 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.

Associated: Over 10 Billion Passwords Have Been Exposed in the Largest Password Hack in History