The US Division of Justice (DoJ) has launched an investigation into the current safety breach at crypto trade Coinbase (Nasdaq: COIN). The breach concerned a leak of inner paperwork and information linked to a “small subset” of buyer accounts, which perpetrators accessed by bribing abroad help brokers of the corporate.
First reported by Bloomberg, citing “an individual aware of the matter”, Coinbase’s Chief Authorized Officer, Paul Grewal, additionally confirmed the investigation is underway.
Paul Grewal, Chief Authorized Officer, Coinbase, Supply: LinkedIn
“We now have notified and are working with the DOJ and different US and worldwide legislation enforcement companies, and welcome legislation enforcement’s pursuit of felony expenses towards these dangerous actors,” Grewal mentioned.
The DoJ has not commented publicly on the investigation.
A Socially Engineered Assault
Coinbase disclosed the breach final week after the perpetrators contacted the corporate, demanding a $20 million ransom. The trade refused to pay, as an alternative providing a $20 million reward for data resulting in the identification of these accountable.
The stolen information contains names, addresses, emails, account balances, masked financial institution particulars, and partial Social Safety numbers. Importantly, personal keys and passwords weren’t accessed, and Coinbase confirmed that Prime accounts have been unaffected.
The incident got here to gentle on 11 Might when Coinbase obtained an e mail from an unidentified menace actor claiming entry to inner paperwork and the main points of sure buyer accounts. The trade now expects the monetary impression of the cyberattack to vary between $180 million and $400 million.
In April, Coinbase introduced adjustments to its consumer settlement that added two clauses limiting class motion lawsuits and requiring lawsuits to be filed in New York. The adjustments apply to disputes initiated after Might 15.
On Might 14, Coinbase disclosed a knowledge breach. pic.twitter.com/ffMR2K4YRo
— Molly White (@molly0xFFF) Might 20, 2025
Is Coinbase’s Safety Now in Query?
Regardless of the current breach, Coinbase stays one of many few main crypto exchanges not beforehand impacted by a full-scale cyberattack.
Earlier this yr, Bybit suffered a document $1.5 billion crypto theft, allegedly carried out by North Korea’s Lazarus Group, which exploited vulnerabilities in its chilly pockets infrastructure. In 2022, Binance, the world’s largest crypto trade by quantity, additionally fell sufferer to a breach when attackers minted 2 million BNB tokens, price round $570 million on the time.
In the meantime, Coinbase was added to the S&P 500 index yesterday, changing Uncover Monetary Companies. The US-based trade has additionally agreed to accumulate crypto choices platform Deribit for $2.9 billion and is reportedly bidding to accumulate stablecoin issuer Circle.
The US Division of Justice (DoJ) has launched an investigation into the current safety breach at crypto trade Coinbase (Nasdaq: COIN). The breach concerned a leak of inner paperwork and information linked to a “small subset” of buyer accounts, which perpetrators accessed by bribing abroad help brokers of the corporate.
First reported by Bloomberg, citing “an individual aware of the matter”, Coinbase’s Chief Authorized Officer, Paul Grewal, additionally confirmed the investigation is underway.
Paul Grewal, Chief Authorized Officer, Coinbase, Supply: LinkedIn
“We now have notified and are working with the DOJ and different US and worldwide legislation enforcement companies, and welcome legislation enforcement’s pursuit of felony expenses towards these dangerous actors,” Grewal mentioned.
The DoJ has not commented publicly on the investigation.
A Socially Engineered Assault
Coinbase disclosed the breach final week after the perpetrators contacted the corporate, demanding a $20 million ransom. The trade refused to pay, as an alternative providing a $20 million reward for data resulting in the identification of these accountable.
The stolen information contains names, addresses, emails, account balances, masked financial institution particulars, and partial Social Safety numbers. Importantly, personal keys and passwords weren’t accessed, and Coinbase confirmed that Prime accounts have been unaffected.
The incident got here to gentle on 11 Might when Coinbase obtained an e mail from an unidentified menace actor claiming entry to inner paperwork and the main points of sure buyer accounts. The trade now expects the monetary impression of the cyberattack to vary between $180 million and $400 million.
In April, Coinbase introduced adjustments to its consumer settlement that added two clauses limiting class motion lawsuits and requiring lawsuits to be filed in New York. The adjustments apply to disputes initiated after Might 15.
On Might 14, Coinbase disclosed a knowledge breach. pic.twitter.com/ffMR2K4YRo
— Molly White (@molly0xFFF) Might 20, 2025
Is Coinbase’s Safety Now in Query?
Regardless of the current breach, Coinbase stays one of many few main crypto exchanges not beforehand impacted by a full-scale cyberattack.
Earlier this yr, Bybit suffered a document $1.5 billion crypto theft, allegedly carried out by North Korea’s Lazarus Group, which exploited vulnerabilities in its chilly pockets infrastructure. In 2022, Binance, the world’s largest crypto trade by quantity, additionally fell sufferer to a breach when attackers minted 2 million BNB tokens, price round $570 million on the time.
In the meantime, Coinbase was added to the S&P 500 index yesterday, changing Uncover Monetary Companies. The US-based trade has additionally agreed to accumulate crypto choices platform Deribit for $2.9 billion and is reportedly bidding to accumulate stablecoin issuer Circle.
