Coinbase hit by data breach, asked $20 million in ransom

Crypto exchange Coinbase has confirmed a major data breach after a hacker stole sensitive customer and corporate data by bribing overseas support contractors. 

The attacker in an email to the company on May 11 demanded a $20 million ransom, which Coinbase has refused to pay.

CEO Brian Armstrong said on X: "We received a $20M ransom demand which we are not paying. Our security team detected the issue months ago and acted quickly to contain it."

Stolen information includes government-issued IDs, personal and contact details, banking data, and account histories. 

Coinbase said fewer than 1 per cent of its 9.7 million monthly customers were affected and has warned those impacted.

The company expects to spend $180 million to $400 million on remediation and reimbursements. 

In response, Coinbase is launching a US-based support center to reduce dependency on overseas staff and is moving ahead with plans to expand into India.