Face a massive extortion attempt, Coinbase refuses to give in. Instead of the $20 million in Bitcoin demanded by hackers to not disclose sensitive customer data, the platform has decided to turn the tables: a $20 million reward, but to identify and condemn those responsible.
According to Coinbase, criminals managed to access personal data through overseas customer support agents, apparently corrupted by cash payments. Less than 1% of monthly active users are said to be affected, insists the exchange, emphasizing that no passwords, private keys, funds, or Coinbase Prime accounts were compromised.
However, the hackers didn’t hold back. Their threat: to publish everything, names, addresses, ID cards, if Coinbase didn’t pay the ransom. The company’s response: an equivalent reward, but to bring them down.
Coinbase unveils a $20 million bounty against its blackmailers
An internal leak exploited by cash
Coinbase claims to have immediately involved law enforcement and initiated a process to compensate affected customers. The incident occurs as social engineering attacks increase: according to on-chain investigator ZachXBT, several users have lost millions, trapped by fake support agents.
This is not the first time. In 2022, Coinbase had already implemented a bounty program after another extortion attempt. This time, the response is even clearer: the platform does not negotiate with blackmailers, it hunts them down.
