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A recent cyberattack against the crypto exchange started with bribing contrctors and employees.
A recent cyberattack against the crypto exchange could cost up to $400 million, the exchange said.
Crypto exchange attacked
The crypto exchange, Coinbase, has been hit by a cyber attack, and now the exchange warns that the hit could cost op to $400 million.
What happened?
According to Reuters, hackers had bribed contractors and employees working supporting roles for the crypto exchange in order to collect information. The individuals in question, working outside the U.S., have since been fired, Coinbase said.
What was stolen?
On May 11th, the company received an email from an unknown actor, who claimed to be in possession internal documents as well as information about certain costumer accounts.
Names, addresses, emails
Data such as names, addresses and emails was stolen, but according to the regulatory filing provided Thursday by Coinbase, no passwords or credentials was stolen.
Will reimburse if hit
However, Coinbase added that the company would reimburse costumers who were tricked into sending funds to the attackers.
$20 million reward
The hackers alegedly put forth a $20 million ransom demand, which Coinbase refused to pay. Instead, Coinbase is now offering the same amount for information on the hackers.
Will join the stock market
The new information is revealed just days before the crypto exchange is planned to join the S&P 500 stock index. The attack will certainly cast a shadow on that event, which was to be expected as a landmark moment for the crypto industry.
Crypto cracks?
According to Chainalysis, 2024 saw a total of $2.2 billion being stolen from crypto exchanges. In February of 2025, another crypto exchange, Bybit, reported that $1.5 billion worth of digital tokens had been stolen.
